Cemeteries

The City of Rochester cemeteries provide compassionate interment services in the historic settings of Mount Hope and Riverside Cemeteries.  These services are delivered in a manner that pays tribute to the past, serves and respects the needs of the present generation, and creates a lasting legacy for the future.

Mount Hope Cemetery 

Dedicated in 1838, Mount Hope  is America’s first municipal Victorian cemetery. Set in a picturesque landscape shaped by retreating glaciers, the cemetery contains priceless pieces of art and rare horticultural specimens. It is the final resting place of many dignified and internationally known individuals, including Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass, and is on the National Park Services National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

Mount Hope is listed in the New York State Register of Historic Places and National Register of Historic Places, featuring 83 mausoleums, soaring Egyptian obelisks, a Florentine cast-iron fountain, two stone chapels in Gothic Revival style, a Moorish gazebo, a Victorian Gothic gatehouse, and infinitely varied tombstones marking 350,000 graves across 196 acres.  The cemetery is also a National Wildlife Federation Certified Habitat and a historic site on Rochester's portion of the Genesee Riverway Trail. 

Mount Hope   Mount Hope Paul Monument   Mount Hope Gazebo Maple Tree

Riverside Cemetery

Riverside Cemetery was constructed in 1892 to be a natural arboretum. With its rolling hills and natural beauty, the cemetery was designed to provide a serene landscape that is not only pleasing to the eye, but also conveys an assurance of permanence. Unique local legends and heroes are laid to rest within a horticultural dream, resplendent with untold varieties of trees, plants and flowers. 

Riverside-Cemetary-11-4-14   Riverside Cemetery Sideways Female Statuary Golden Fall   Riverside-Cemetary-11-4-2

Please visit the cemetery page for contact information, or provide your feedback regarding our cemeteries here.

Riverside and Mount Hope Cemeteries are currently under the management of the City's Department of Environmental Services Bureau of Buildings and Parks.