Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester (must see)

Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester is one of America's oldest municipally operated cemeteries, established in 1838 and now encompassing 196 acres adjacent to the University of Rochester. Designed in the style of a Victorian garden cemetery, Mount Hope is both a serene resting place and a historical archive, home to over 350,000 interments and an average of 500–600 new burials each year. Its winding paths follow the contours of ancient glacial eskers-geological ridges formed more than 12,000 years ago-making it a unique landscape shaped by both time and nature.

Among its most famous residents are suffragist Susan B. Anthony and abolitionist Frederick Douglass, whose graves draw visitors from across the country, particularly during election seasons. In recent years, the tradition of leaving “I Voted” stickers on Anthony’s headstone prompted protective measures, including the installation of a transparent Plexiglass shield. The cemetery also holds remnants of the long-gone Fandango Tower, a 19th-century observation platform tied to the mysterious “Great Rochester Mirage” of 1871, when viewers claimed to see the shores of Lake Ontario due to a rare atmospheric phenomenon known as Fata Morgana.

Architecturally, Mount Hope offers a rich blend of High Victorian Gothic and Neoclassical styles, visible in its ornate gravestones, crypts, gatehouses, and two historic chapels dating from 1862 and 1912-both now closed due to deterioration, though stabilization efforts have recently preserved the latter. Visitors may also spot Tiffany glass windows embedded in mausoleums and encounter restored natural features like Sylvan Waters, a reflective pond nestled within a glacial kettle basin.

The grounds also contain public art and memorials, including Defenders of the Flag, a Civil War monument sculpted in 1908 by Sally James Farnham. Though the cemetery bears moments of tragedy-such as the still-unsolved 2000 desecration of General Elisha Marshall’s crypt-it remains a vibrant cultural and historical site. In 2018, Mount Hope Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, cementing its legacy as a living monument to Rochester’s past.