A Cemetery Renowned for Both its Beauty and its Residents

Blue Sky Mausoleum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Dave Pape (Public Domain)

Grave of Rick James Jfvoll/CC BY-SA 4.0 (Creative Commons)

President Millard Fillmore Memorial Jfvoll/CC BY-SA 4.0 (Creative Commons)

Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York Druszaj/CC BY SA 3.0 (Creative Commons)

John Field sculpture Unknown (Public Domain )

Close-Up of Blue Sky Mausoleum Dave Pape (Public Domain)

Red Jacket statue Dave Pape (Public Domain)

The Birge Memorial by George Cary for George K. Birge, president of the Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company. Dave Pape (Public Domain)

The Oishei Bell, near the entrance to the cemetery Dave Pape (Public Domain)

One of the first deliberately designed rural cemeteries in the United States is known not only for its beauty but also for the important people who rest there.

One of the most stunning features of Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, NY, is the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Blue Sky Mausoleum, one of only three memorial sculptures he ever built, with room for twenty-four interments. It is designed to fit organically into the landscape with granite meant to resemble the rock of nearby mountains.

Not only is Forest Lawn the final resting place of Millard Fillmore, the 13th President of the United States (and last from the Whig Party), but to Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress, the first black person to run for a major party’s presidential nomination, and the first woman to do so on the Democratic side.

Also buried in Forest Lawn are Mary Burnett Talbert, one of the forces behind the organization that became the NAACP, Seneca Indian Chief Red Jacket, and Grammy-winning musician Rick James. There are beautiful sculptures, and many of the gravestones of the less well-known residents are works of art as well.

The cemetery dates from 1849, when it was only 80 acres. Now 269 acres, the magnificent cemetery is considered must see when exploring Upstate New York. Tours often feature actors portraying famous residents of the cemetery, and there is an expansive digital archive.