The Experience
It’s a fair guess that when Andrew Hamilton built his Federal-style mansion on his 250-acre estate, he didn’t expect it to be surrounded by a cemetery. During the Hamilton family’s glory days, the estate was a center for elegance and gracious entertaining. By the 1840s, the property fell into disrepair and the grounds were turned into a cemetery.
Winding brick paths follow Hamilton’s original landscape, meandering through the estate where headstones, ranging from the simple to the monumental, reveal a who’s who of 18th- and 19th-century Philadelphia. Artists Thomas Eakins and Rembrandt Peale, the Drexel and Biddle families, railroad magnates Asa Whitney and John Edgar Thompson, surgical pioneer Dr. Samuel Gross and dozens of others lie in repose in this urban oasis.
History
Renowned for his work in horticulture, landscape design and botany, William Hamilton, Andrew’s grandson, was asked by Thomas Jefferson to plant some seeds harvested during Lewis and Clark’s expeditions. Eventually, the estate boasted more than 10,000 species of plants. Today, more than 720 historic trees and plants have survived and are scattered throughout the property.