Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Omaha, Nebraska) facts for kids

Forest Lawn Memorial Park, also known as Forest Lawn Cemetery, is a very large cemetery in North Omaha, Nebraska. It was started in 1885 when a group called the Forest Lawn Cemetery Association received about 100 acres (0.40 km2) of land. The first person buried there in 1886 was John H. Brackin, who had donated the land. Forest Lawn is the biggest cemetery in Omaha and is the resting place for many important leaders from the city's early days.

History of Forest Lawn

This sundial at Forest Lawn was designed by John Carmichael.

Before Forest Lawn Cemetery was created, a part of the land was used as a "Potter's Field." This was a burial ground for people who were poor or whose names were not known. It was used for many years, from the 1880s until the 1960s.

Today, Forest Lawn covers about 349 acres (1.41 km2). It is designed like a beautiful park, with gentle hills, trees, and open grassy areas. Many famous families from Omaha's history are buried here. You can also find veterans from many wars, including the Civil War, Spanish–American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, and the Iraq War.

Different groups, like the G.A.R. (a group for Civil War veterans), the Freemasons, and the Omaha Typographical Union, once owned parts of Forest Lawn Cemetery. A section of Forest Lawn was also set aside as a national soldiers' cemetery. Money earned from selling burial plots helps to protect and care for the cemetery.

Soon after Forest Lawn opened, Prospect Hill Cemetery, an older burial ground in Omaha, stopped being used as much. Its owner, Byron Reed, later sold it to Forest Lawn in the 1890s. Prospect Hill Cemetery then fell into disrepair, but it was restored in the 1980s.

Who is Buried Here?

Many notable people are buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Here are some of them:

• Howard Malcolm Baldrige, who was a U.S. Secretary of Commerce.
• James E. Boyd, who served as the Mayor of Omaha and later as the Governor of Nebraska.
• Norris Brown
• Howard Homan Buffett, who was the father of the famous investor Warren Buffett.
• Hugh Alfred Butler
• Caroline Augusta Clowry (G. Estabrook), the first American woman to publish an opera.
• Harry Buffington Coffee
• Tom Dennison, an important political figure in Omaha.
• Richard A. Dier, a judge.
• Henry Doorly, who was the publisher of the Omaha World-Herald newspaper.
• Experience Estabrook
• J.E. Goodson, a musician from the 1800s.
• Gilbert Hitchcock, a U.S. Senator and the person who started the Omaha World-Herald.
• Robert Beecher Howell
• Albert Webb Jefferis
• David Knox, a photographer during the Civil War.
• Herman Kountze
• Jesse Lowe, who was Omaha's first mayor.
• Charles Frederick Manderson
• David Henry Mercer
• Jarvis Offutt, an aviator (pilot) from World War I. Offutt Air Force Base is named after him.
• Anne Ramsey, an actress.
• Samuel Williams Reynolds
• Alvin Saunders
• Walter Scott Jr.