The arch at the entrance to Springfield Cemetery in Springfield, Mass, around 1905. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
The scene in 2015:
Springfield Cemetery is one of those places that is hard to find unless you’re looking for it. In fact, it was hard to find on my first visit, and I was looking for it. Once in the cemetery, it’s hard to tell that you’re in the middle of a cemetery, and this was done intentionally. Modeled after the beautifully-landscaped Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass., Springfield Cemetery demonstrates a similar desire to create a peaceful, park-like setting.
As seen in the first photo, visitors to the cemetery once passed under the dramatic stone arch, which was built in 1845, just a few years after the cemetery opened. I don’t know when or why the arch was removed, but my guess is it probably had something to do with traffic concerns; getting modern vehicles through it would probably be a tight f