by Zachary T. Washburn (Author), Linda N. Hixon (Author)
During the garden cemetery movement that swept the United States in the mid-19th century, the City of Worcester realized the need for a larger place to lay its dead. Worcester, which had become a city several years earlier, enjoyed a booming population caused by an influx of immigrants looking for work in its vast industrial sector. The city fathers took on the task of finding suitable grounds, and Hope Cemetery was founded in 1854 in a rural area of rolling hills and languid brooks. The space would hold the remains of a cross section of Worcester's residents, from the large mausoleums of prominent citizens to the small stones of young children. Hope Cemetery is a final resting place open to all citizens of the city--the rich, the poor, the notorious, and everyone in between. Today, Hope Cemetery is an active, "living" cemetery for the second-largest city in New England, as well as a place for loved ones and others to find solace and a place to stroll.