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GC005.JPG

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Mausoleum washing West Laurel Hill Cemetery Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania The cemetery maintenance crew uses a mobile washing system to clean a mausoleum on a hot August day. West Laurel Hill Cemetery was established in response to size limitations imposed by near-by Laurel Hill Cemetery. Laurel Hill was Philadelphia’s first rural cemetery and the second rural cemetery in the United States. In 1867, the city of Philadelphia established a park that effectively enclosed Laurel Hill cemetery and prevented any further expansion. The Board of managers of Laurel Hill found an additional 180 acres land available approximately one mile away, where they established West Laurel Hill Cemetery. The first burial at West Laurel Hill was the reinterment of Frederick and Elizabeth Eckert, whose bodies were moved from nearby Mechanics Cemetery. West Laurel Hill has one of the best collections of well maintained mausolea in the country. Through a well funded program of perpetual care, its mausoleums are maintained and cleaned on a regular basis. The cemetery is thought to have the costliest collection of marble and granite in Pennsylvania.