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A landscape of a split pathway, covered by trees. A few figures can be seen walking.
Mount Auburn (1861). (Photo: Flickr/Internet Archive Book Images)

First large modern cemetery built.

Date: 1831

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Mount Auburn (1861). (Photo: Flickr/Internet Archive Book Images)

Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts initiates the rural cemetery movement. Cemeteries become seen as parks and memorial grounds–places to be protected. Burial in these cemeteries is initially limited to wealthy communities. This movement is a response to the grave robbing of the previous generation, as well as to new public health interests in keeping decaying bodies away from living communities.