Graveyards of Chicago: The People, History, Art, and Lore of Cook County Cemeteries

by Matt Hucke, Ursula Bielski

Charting the lore and lure of Chicago's ubiquitous burial grounds, this resource unearths the legends and legacies that mark the city's silent citizens—from larger-than-lifers and local heroes to machine mayors and machine-gunners. The book demonstrates that Chicago's cemeteries are home not only to thousands of individuals who fashioned the city's singular culture and character, but also to impressive displays of art and architecture, landscaping and limestone, egoism and ethnic pride. Mysterious questions such as Where is Al Capone buried? and What really lies beneath home plate at Wrigley Field? are answered in this reminder that although physical life must end, personal notes—and notoriety—last forever. Ever wonder where Al Capone is buried? How about Clarence Darrow? Muddy Waters? Harry Caray? Or maybe Brady Bunch patriarch Robert Reed? And what really lies beneath home plate at Wrigley Field? Graveyards of Chicago answers these and other cryptic questions as it charts the lore and lure of Chicago's ubiquitous burial grounds. Like the livelier neighborhoods that surround them, Chicago's cemeteries are often crowded, sometimes weary, ever-sophisticated, and full of secrets. They are home not only to thousands of individuals who fashioned the city's singular culture and character, but also to impressive displays of art and architecture, landscaping and limestone, egoism and ethnic pride, and the constant reminder that although physical life must end for us all, personal note—and notoriety—last forever. Grab a shovel and tag along as Ursula Bielski and Matt Hucke unearth the legends and legacies that mark Chicago's silent citizens—from larger-than-lifers and local heroes, to clerics and comedians, machine mayors and machine-gunners.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Travel

230 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1999

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomial book and it's dedicated to me, so I am unbiased.

[Laren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once you get past the fact that a graveyard and a cemetery are not technically the same thing although the title would lead you to believe so, and after you wade through the excessive ten pages of intro/acknowledgements before the book even starts, you might enjoy this book. The authors do not include color photos or photos of every monument described, but the ones they do include are mostly interesting. Inexplicably, they don't give biographies or even grave descriptions for every famous person buried in a Chicago area cemetery who is mentioned in this book. How they made their choices of which to further explain isn't clear. But they do give a very interesting history about how most of the cemeteries came to creation. No big surprise, that mostly has to do with racial, cultural and/or religious differences. Overall, this was an interesting look at burial customs, architectural and design differences, an area history and biographies of people, both famous and not, who are buried around here, all wrapped up in one little package.

[Loren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the model cemetery guidebook. It's generously illustrated by Hucke's black-and-white photos. (Hucke was the impresario behind Graveyards.com, which unfortunately hasn't been updated in over a year.)

In this book, the graveyards are arranged by geographic area in listings complete with address, phone number, and founding date. The only thing the book lacks is an overall map of the Chicago area, so out-of-towners like me could maximize their cemetery viewing excursions.

The text on each cemetery ranges over all the topics collected in the book's subtitle, and includes supernatural actitivies. Co-author Ursula Bielski is a ghost-hunter and the author of Chicago Haunts: Ghostlore of the Windy City. Her extremely readable style makes Graveyards of Chicago as pleasant to read as it is to page through for photographs.

This review originally appeared on Gothic.Net in November 2001.

[Sherrie Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this time of year - the beginning of Halloween, cool air, changing colors of the leaves, football, and of course, ghost stories and cemetaries! I love books about the history of places and this one does not disappoint. Peppered in with the history of Chicago is stories on architecture, various movers and shakers of the Chicago of old, and pictures portraying the art of cemetaries. And yes, there is great art to be found!

Great book to help start off the Halloween season!

[Julz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love both Chicago History and cemeteries, so this is one of my favorite re-read and reference books.

I have used it to take "field trips" to quite a few fascinating and quietly beautiful historic cemeteries.

[Lost_Clown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Next time I'm home I want to go on a cemetery tour with my camera. I only knew about Graceland's history and now I can't wait to discover these other sites.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read for the cemetery junkie like myself or around Halloween when the authors start their local Chicago "library crawl".

[Connie Fairchild · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book with lots of good photos and information. Read it several years ago and was impressed with the author's love of the subject.