Histopolis Place-of-the-Day

The Histopolis Place-of-the-Day for Saturday, November 27, 2010 is Crown Hill Confederate Plot in Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Center Township, Marion County, Indiana.

"The Crown Hill Confederate Plot is located in Section 32, Lot 285, of Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana. Crown Hill Cemetery is notable as one of the largest private cemeteries in the country at 555 acres. Incorporated Sept. 25, 1863, as a non-denominational facility, Crown Hill Cemetery provided much needed burial grounds at a time when space was diminishing in the city cemetery. Following the contemporary movement to locate cemeteries away from urban cores, Crown Hill Cemetery was established approximately three miles away from downtown Indianapolis. Among the many notables buried in Crown Hill Cemetery are President Benjamin Harrison, 11 governors of Indiana, and the notorious bank robber John Dillinger.

"The Crown Hill Cemetery Confederate Plot was established in 1931 as a memorial and burial place for 1,616 unknown Confederate Soldiers. Most of the soldiers interred here died at Camp Morton, a Union prison on the north side of Indianapolis. Between 1862 and 1865, at least 9,000 Confederate prisoners passed through the gates of Camp Morton. Initially, deceased prisoners were interred in the nearby Greenlawn Cemetery. In 1912, the federal government erected an imposing, 27' tall Confederate monument in Greenlawn Cemetery, featuring the names of persons who perished at Camp Morton. However, Greenlawn Cemetery closed in 1928, and the Confederate monument was relocated to the city's Garfield Park to make it more visible to the public. Five years later, the remains of the Confederate soldiers were moved to Crown Hill Cemetery, and placed in a mass grave. On top of the mound a new granite monument was erected, commemorating the unknown Confederate dead.

"Crown Hill Cemetery, including the Confederate Plot and the nearby Crown Hill National Cemetery - established for the Union dead - was listed on the National Register for Historic Places in February 1973."

Source: Cemeteries - Crown Hill Confederate Plot - Burial and Memorial Benefits

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