Washington Street Cemetery

Painesville
(Extinct)

Washington Street Cemetery was located on West Washington Street, originally occupying sublots 51, 52, 76, and 77 of the Kerr, Cole & Others Survey. The history of the Liberty Street Cemetery indicates that its graves were moved to the Washington Street Cemetery in 1821. Later sublots 49 (west half), 50, 74 (west half), and 75 were added to the cemetery. This site is now east of Harvey High School and occupied by a parking lot and field.

The history of the cemetery is clouded. On August 4th, 1857, a fire swept through the buildings on the south side of Main Street, from South St. Clair Street to South State Street. Here was located the office of the Town of Painesville and many of the official records were destroyed, including those of the cemetery. The surviving Sexton books only date back to July, 1847.

By the 1850s the cemetery was filling up and the search for a new site began. In July, 1852, the Corporation of Painesville purchased seven acres about a three quarters of a mile west of the village square on the north side of Mentor Avenue, “for the deposit of the earthly remains of the dead.” However it proved to be unsuitable for a cemetery; “the soil is gravely, the ground badly located, and access to it difficult – it is impossible to dig to the depth of over three feet without curbing.” Another push for a new burial ground was made in June, 1855, but it too resulted in nothing. In March, 1859, the Village Council held several well attended meetings on finding a suitable location. A committee was appointed. It reported that a site had been found “on the bank a little below the Old Geauga Mill, on the opposite side of the River,” and recommended its purchase. The editor of the Painesville Telegraph in the issue of March 24th, 1859, rejoiced, “So we are to have, without doubt, a New Cemetery, – and so we should have.”

After the opening of Evergreen Cemetery in January, 1860, burials continued at the old cemetery. There were almost a hundred burials before this activity ceased. The last recorded burial was that of Delia Seeley (Mrs. Ezra Seeley), aged 76 years. Unfortunately the sexton did not record the date, though it probably occurred in the summer of 1865.*

Beginning in 1860 lot owners were encouraged to remove their loved ones to Evergreen Cemetery or some other cemetery. It appears that no records were kept of these removals. And those reinterred in Evergreen Cemetery were not entered in the Sexton’s books.

Over the years the cemetery fell into disrepair. The editor of the Painesville Telegraph in the issue of September 26th, 1867, observed: “In passing along Washington street a few days ago, we were unpleasantly affected by the whole appearance of the old cemetery. The fences are all going to ruin – the walks are all overgrown with grass and weeds, and the lots, where still lie a vary large proportion of those formerly buried there, were full of weeds and grass, and presented an appearance altogether disgraceful to both the village authorities and the owners of the lots and friends of the dead.” He suggested that “either some arrangement made by which all the remaining dead should be transferred to the new ground across the river, and the whole place be entirely vacated, or the friends of the dead still left there should clean up and care for their lots, and the city authorities should put the walks and fences in good repair and keep them so. “

In the fall of 1877 Sexton Tomas Smith was again asking for the removal of the remains of those interred here to Evergreen Cemetery.

The editor of the Painesville newspaper called the Northern Ohio Journal in the issue of October 26th, 1878, wrote: “For a long time the Washington Street Cemetery has been permitted, from a combination of causes, to remain in a sadly neglected and dilapidated condition. Within the past two weeks, however, the work of cleaning and pruning has been undertaken and completed, so that now the grounds present a creditable appearance. The few remaining gravestones have been buried two feet deep, the paths trimmed and the undergrowth cut down and carted away.” A plat of the grounds showing where every stone was buried was made by L.K. Pierson, to enable anyone later to locate the graves. The grounds were then used as a park. When the park became the site of football games in the fall of 1892 and baseball games in spring of 1893, there were complaints and the sports were discontinued.

In the early 1890s the Painesville Board of Education saw the need to build a new high school. The vacant land where the Washington Street Cemetery had been attracted their attention. The Village council transferred the property to the school board on December 5th, 1896, and they began the process of transforming “a wasted place into a beautiful site for a new high School building.” Since that time the land where the Washington Street Cemetery had been has been part of the high school grounds.

The fact that some of the graves had never been removed has periodically come back to haunt school officials.

[Ed. Notes] Another article from the Painesville Telegraph of possible interest:
26 Mar 1851 pg. 3 “Home Affairs” regarding ladies committee for adorning the burying ground
Gary G. pointed out that the March 8th, 1866 issue of The Telegraph states on page 3, under “DIED”, “In Painesville, February 15, Mrs. Delia SEELY, aged 79 years.”

Note: Duplicate stone numbers indicate multiple persons inscribed on the same stone as detailed in the inscription column.