Woodlawn Cemetery
200 Woodlawn Avenue
Norwalk, OH 44857
Acres: 35
Founded: 1854
419.668.5618
No Official Website
Bella Morte Tombstone Rating: 2
Upon approaching Norwalk’s Woodlawn Cemetery, one’s gaze is immediately drawn to the fortress-like community mausoleum, built in 1920, which dominates the entry landscape. Although not massive by any means, the grey stone structure nonetheless possesses an impressive presence. Sadly, as is often the case with mausoleums of this era, the doors are locked to all but loved ones and crypt-owners at most times as the days of frequent family visits to the permanent residents within have come and gone. That being said, we have been able to view photographs of the building’s interior and can safely report that being barred from admittance presents no great loss either to our explorations or to our library of cemetery photos.
In regard to the graveyard grounds, a conversation with the very kind and helpful Superintendent at Woodlawn revealed that there are, as of this writing in May, 2013, 16,500 burials in the cemetery; however, of those, only 13,500 have markers, leaving an army of 3,000 “invisible” subterranean tenants whose families lacked the finances necessary to procure memorials.
Located near the front of the cemetery, the Backerstock mausoleum contains portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Backerstock, along with three rocking chairs and a table from their old homestead. Perhaps with a view toward comfort and familiarity, the Backerstock’s requested these items be placed in their mausoleum. Sadly, though these objects used to be visible through the front gates, the doors have since been closed and locked and the key itself has been misplaced sometime over the decades.
The Cole family lot, also located near the front of Woodlawn, is the largest in the cemetery. It features 39 burials and 43 different monuments, most being small stone markers. The memorial we found most interesting indicates the final resting place of four members of the Cole family reinterred at Woodlawn. It bears the inscription: “Removed from the Cole family burying ground in 1877.”
One of the most unusual visuals in the cemetery is the signage denoting Woodlawn’s “Babyland.” Two red brick pillars support a decorative white gate as well as an arch with the word “Babyland” affixed in block letters. What makes the sign remarkable is the fact that some of the parents of the deceased painted the letters in soft pastel colours a number of years ago. Public reaction was very positive and, though we were unable to locate it, we were told a local paper even published a story on Woodlawn’s “Babyland” and its colourful signage.
Our favourite spot on the grounds was discovered while exploring a grassy path that led off one of the drives. Following a stone retaining wall, we passed the 1879 Jefferson mausoleum nestled in the hillside before discovering the receiving vault. Constructed in 1879 and now sadly filled with items discarded from the cemetery, this lovely structure was once lined with shelves capable of sheltering 32 caskets from the ravages of winter until the spring thaw made opening gravesites without the benefit of modern power equipment possible again.
For tragedy and poignancy, no other lot at Woodlawn provokes more sadness than that which contains the memorial commemorating the lives of twenty-one of the sixty-three elderly souls lost in the Golden Age Nursing Home fire of 1963. Compounding that sadness is the fact that the twenty-one dead interred here had no one to love and care for them. Their unclaimed bodies were given dignified rest through the good graces and kindheartedness of individuals who donated funeral services and Woodlawn Cemetery which generously offered the sixty foot plot for their remains. A single grey stone bears the names and birth years of the deceased.
The story of the Golden Age Nursing Home fire is succinctly summarized in Ohio Historical Marker 2-39 located in Norwalk, Ohio. It reads:
Golden Age
Nursing Home Fire
Located one mile north of Fitchville, the Golden Age Nursing Home
caught fire and burned to the ground at 4:45 a.m., November 23, 1963,
killing 63 of 84 patients. Fire departments from New London,
Greenwich, North Fairfield, and Plymouth responded. Ignited by the
arcing of overloaded wiring, the incident called for action to require
sprinklers, automatic fire detection systems, and electrical
wiring compliance to building codes in all nursing homes. The worst
tragedy of its kind in the nation, the incident was overshadowed
by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and was not
widely reported. Twenty-one unclaimed bodies were interred in a
60-foot grave in Woodlawn Cemetery in Norwalk.
{G}
200 Woodlawn Avenue
Norwalk, OH 44857
Acres: 35
Founded: 1854
419.668.5618
No Official Website
Bella Morte Tombstone Rating: 2
Upon approaching Norwalk’s Woodlawn Cemetery, one’s gaze is immediately drawn to the fortress-like community mausoleum, built in 1920, which dominates the entry landscape. Although not massive by any means, the grey stone structure nonetheless possesses an impressive presence. Sadly, as is often the case with mausoleums of this era, the doors are locked to all but loved ones and crypt-owners at most times as the days of frequent family visits to the permanent residents within have come and gone. That being said, we have been able to view photographs of the building’s interior and can safely report that being barred from admittance presents no great loss either to our explorations or to our library of cemetery photos.
In regard to the graveyard grounds, a conversation with the very kind and helpful Superintendent at Woodlawn revealed that there are, as of this writing in May, 2013, 16,500 burials in the cemetery; however, of those, only 13,500 have markers, leaving an army of 3,000 “invisible” subterranean tenants whose families lacked the finances necessary to procure memorials.
Located near the front of the cemetery, the Backerstock mausoleum contains portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Backerstock, along with three rocking chairs and a table from their old homestead. Perhaps with a view toward comfort and familiarity, the Backerstock’s requested these items be placed in their mausoleum. Sadly, though these objects used to be visible through the front gates, the doors have since been closed and locked and the key itself has been misplaced sometime over the decades.
The Cole family lot, also located near the front of Woodlawn, is the largest in the cemetery. It features 39 burials and 43 different monuments, most being small stone markers. The memorial we found most interesting indicates the final resting place of four members of the Cole family reinterred at Woodlawn. It bears the inscription: “Removed from the Cole family burying ground in 1877.”
One of the most unusual visuals in the cemetery is the signage denoting Woodlawn’s “Babyland.” Two red brick pillars support a decorative white gate as well as an arch with the word “Babyland” affixed in block letters. What makes the sign remarkable is the fact that some of the parents of the deceased painted the letters in soft pastel colours a number of years ago. Public reaction was very positive and, though we were unable to locate it, we were told a local paper even published a story on Woodlawn’s “Babyland” and its colourful signage.
Our favourite spot on the grounds was discovered while exploring a grassy path that led off one of the drives. Following a stone retaining wall, we passed the 1879 Jefferson mausoleum nestled in the hillside before discovering the receiving vault. Constructed in 1879 and now sadly filled with items discarded from the cemetery, this lovely structure was once lined with shelves capable of sheltering 32 caskets from the ravages of winter until the spring thaw made opening gravesites without the benefit of modern power equipment possible again.
For tragedy and poignancy, no other lot at Woodlawn provokes more sadness than that which contains the memorial commemorating the lives of twenty-one of the sixty-three elderly souls lost in the Golden Age Nursing Home fire of 1963. Compounding that sadness is the fact that the twenty-one dead interred here had no one to love and care for them. Their unclaimed bodies were given dignified rest through the good graces and kindheartedness of individuals who donated funeral services and Woodlawn Cemetery which generously offered the sixty foot plot for their remains. A single grey stone bears the names and birth years of the deceased.
The story of the Golden Age Nursing Home fire is succinctly summarized in Ohio Historical Marker 2-39 located in Norwalk, Ohio. It reads:
Golden Age
Nursing Home Fire
Located one mile north of Fitchville, the Golden Age Nursing Home
caught fire and burned to the ground at 4:45 a.m., November 23, 1963,
killing 63 of 84 patients. Fire departments from New London,
Greenwich, North Fairfield, and Plymouth responded. Ignited by the
arcing of overloaded wiring, the incident called for action to require
sprinklers, automatic fire detection systems, and electrical
wiring compliance to building codes in all nursing homes. The worst
tragedy of its kind in the nation, the incident was overshadowed
by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and was not
widely reported. Twenty-one unclaimed bodies were interred in a
60-foot grave in Woodlawn Cemetery in Norwalk.
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