Want to know what’s going on at Bellefontaine Cemetery? Click here to download our fall newsletter.

Pick up the new Town & Style for a great piece on the cemetery and our president, Nancy Ylvisaker PLUS a Nostalgia piece on the cemetery. Click here to read it online.

Announcing the NEW Notable Tour Booklet! Our circa 1981 (yes, 30 years old) has been updated and in FULL color. Added notables include: William S Burroughs (author Naked Lunch), William Greenleaf Eliot (founder Washington University), John Berry Meachum (Dred Scott’s Pastor), Edward Mallinckrodt Sr & Jr (founder Mallinckrodt Chemical Works), Henry Clay Pierce (Oil Baron), Edna Gellhorn (Suffragette), Irma Rombauer (author Joy of Cooking), & Max Starkloff (Activist for the disabled)! How’s that for NOTABLES! The tour map now has a shorter main tour and three extended routes for your touring pleasure. Maps are free and available in the office. Booklet is $5 and also in the office. Come see our trees putting on their fall show!

Our new Civil War Tour Booklet is here! Written by Carol Shepley, this booklet covers 51 participants including union, confederate and civilians. A map will guide you to their locations and new markers have been placed to aid your tour. Only $3 and available at our office!

Whoo! We made the Riverfront Times Best of 2011 list as the ‘Best Cemetery’. Thank you. We’re flattered.

New Civil War Tour Booklet is here! Written by Carol Shepley, this booklet covers 51 participants including union, confederate and civilians. A map will guide you to their locations and new markers have been placed to aid your tour. During the Civil War, 1861-1865, Missouri saw more military action than any state except Virginia and Tennessee. The State reported a total of 1,162 military events. Lying on the border between North and South, loyalties in Missouri were divided so intensely that the State literally had two governments. This self-guided tour booklet is $3 and available at our office, open 365 days a year from 8am-5pm.

The Hotchkiss Chapel renovation was recently completed and we held a Re-dedication Ceremony September 27, celebrating 100 years since the original chapel was built. The renovation preserved much of the chapel’s original woodwork, including the front and side doors, pews and decorative wall sconces. The rear of the chapel is a new columbarium, featuring 665 wooden and glass niches designed to hold cremated remains.

Here are the latest renderings of what the renovated Hotchkiss Chapel interior and exterior will look like upon completion. Click each to view a larger version.

The chapel is named as a tribute to the designer and first superintendent of the cemetery, Almerin Hotchkiss (46 years) and his son, Frank Hotchkiss (20 years). The 100 year old chapel is being renovated and the receiving tomb behind the chapel is being converted into a columbarium with over 665 niches for cremated remains. There will be a choice of fine hardwood and glass front niches.

Scheduled completion is September, 2009.