The Landscape

According to the 1871 Marquis Chicago Handbook, “The design [of Oak Woods] is on the lawn system, and the grounds are divided into sections, each with mounds of various forms and sizes, and here and there are scattered shade trees and clusters of shrubbery.”

Over the years, Oak Wood’s landscape would don a superintendent's house, a chapel, four greenhouses and a receiving vault. Likewise, among the rolling green grass and trees, four small lakes would be built, three of which were dug by the original designers. The 4th lake was completed around 1885.

A series of greenhouses had been added around 1880, consisting of approximately 70,000 square of feet glass. This allowed the cemetery to sell flowers onsite.

A mausoleum and chapel (pictured on the background of this page) were also constructed in 1903 by William Carbys Zimmerman. An early postcard created by Oak Woods claims it had the first natural gas burning crematory in the entire United States. Park and Garden Magazine published this article with photos of the interior, shortly after the construction of the chapel.

The January 1917 issue of Horticulture Magazine reported that, on December 30, 1916, three of the smaller greenhouses and a part of the conservatory were destroyed by fire. The loss was estimated at $10,000 (which would be the equivalent to $230,000 in 2022).

In the late 1950s, construction of the Tower of Memories, a large Mausoleum would commence. An article from the Chicago Tribune on January 30, 1958 discusses the new addition.