Welcome! Forest Home Cemetery Overview is a website dedicated to the history of Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois. Many of us know this cemetery as the final resting place for the Haymarket Martyrs, Lucy Parsons, Emma Goldman and the scattered ashes of Joe Hill. For others it is a cemetery with a section of unique and colorful Roma (Gypsy) monuments. There are two monuments for the Potawatomi Indians who originally lived at the site, and gravestones for soldiers and town officials.
At Forest Home there are monuments designed by Tiffany & Co and other renowned sculptors. The largest monument is guarded by two large stone lions but has no human inhabitants. There is a tall and impressive Druid monument, which is surrounded by gravestones set in concentric circles. Many of the gravestones are sculpted to look like logs. A large number of the gravestones at Forest Home have symbols of the Masonic Temple, Odd Fellows, and other fraternal organizations' insignia.
Be sure to stop at the cemetery office to purchase a deed or find out where someone is buried. There are maps available to help locate the sections of the cemetery and show the location of the chapel and the bridge over the Des Plaines River.
At Forest Home there are monuments designed by Tiffany & Co and other renowned sculptors. The largest monument is guarded by two large stone lions but has no human inhabitants. There is a tall and impressive Druid monument, which is surrounded by gravestones set in concentric circles. Many of the gravestones are sculpted to look like logs. A large number of the gravestones at Forest Home have symbols of the Masonic Temple, Odd Fellows, and other fraternal organizations' insignia.
Be sure to stop at the cemetery office to purchase a deed or find out where someone is buried. There are maps available to help locate the sections of the cemetery and show the location of the chapel and the bridge over the Des Plaines River.
Special Thanks
Individuals from the Forest Park Historical Society, the Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest and the Association for Gravestone Studies came together and gave input into what has become a dramatic new website.
A big thanks to Forest Home Cemetery employees for their help and cooperation.
Much of the source material came from:
-Nature's Choicest Spot: A Guide to Forest Home and German Waldheim Cemeteries
-The Day Will Come: Stories of the Haymarket Martyrs and the Dedicated Men and Women Buried Alongside the Monument
-Forest Park Review
These and other sources are cited when used.
Photographs and website design:
Alexis Ellers is responsible for the web design and for the the majority of photographs.
This project was organized by Mark Rogovin.
Additional material desired:
We welcome additional written content as well as images pertaining to the history of the cemetery.
Please email to: ForestHomeCemeteryOverview@gmail.com
For burial inquiries and to locate relatives' graves:
Please contact the cemetery directly at
www.foresthomecemetery.net
708-366-1900