Types of Cemeteries

Mount Pleasant Cemetery has been providing the people of Long Island with quality and affordable cemetery services. Many cemeteries have areas based on different styles, reflect the culture of the area, and depict the practices around death and how it changes over time. Check out the various types of cemeteries you might encounter.

The urban cemetery is a burial ground that is located in the interior of a city, town or village. Cemeteries of this fashion were developed early on, but were oftentimes difficult to maintain due to the overcrowding city areas saw. Churchyards were a common place for these types of cemeteries to arise from, but as this filled out, alternatives needed to be had. This led to the development of more groomed and organized burial grounds. Over time, they developed into the nicely landscaped forms we see today. That is, if they got proper funding, as many urban ones did not and fell into poor shape.

Typically, urban cemeteries are more sanitary than aesthetically pleasing, as they were simply a function of necessity. There needed to be a place to safely get rid of corpses and they often were simply buried in cloth to speed up the decomposition process and allowed for the quicker burial of other bodies. Due to the vast amount of people living in these areas, health risks arose due to the burying of bodies. They release chemicals, whether in a coffin or not, that are harmful to the population as a whole. So maintaining clean drinking water was an issue many urban cemeteries have had to deal with over the years.

This is the traditional type of cemetery where headstones and other monuments sit in the ground. In these places, slabs are used to cover entire graves, but due to the materials used can be expensive. And if done in a sloppy and unorganized manner, this type of cemetery can become an unsightly image with many headstones spraying themselves across the landscape.

Also, due to these headstones, maintenance is required and often comes at the hands of the family member. And as families pass away, these headstones can become forgotten and decay over the years. Cutting the lawn is also required to properly maintain the upkeep of these cemeteries, as they can quickly become overgrown. With all these aspects in mind, monumental cemeteries are difficult to maintain.

This is the style of burial ground that uses landscaping in a park-like setting, as it featured walkways that gave visitors access to graves, as well as trees, bushes and flowers. This sort of cemetery dates back to 1711, but was not openly used until the early 1800s. This was when already existing cemeteries were simply churchyards, but they were becoming overcrowded and unhealthy. Eventually, cemeteries started springing up a little outside of towns and cities, hence the name rural cemetery.

These sort of cemeteries, though, were quite expensive. This meant that they were mostly filled with more wealthy clients. Due to this higher use of money, these sorts of cemeteries became known for their above-ground monuments, memorials and mausoleums. However, a backlash of this type of cemetery occurred. Many featured artistic designs that were outrageous and simply there became too many.