Waldheim Cemetery, Forest Park

About Waldheim Cemetery, Forest Park

The Jewish Waldheim area was founded during the second wave of Jewish immigration to Chicago in the late-19th century. Historically, the first institutions newly arrived Jewish immigrants created in their new communities were religious, educational, and fraternal organizations. With immigrants insisting on their own Jewish cemeteries, these groups eagerly looked for a cemetery to sell its member’s plots in their own specially created sections.

Beginning in 1870, over 280 cemetery sections representing various Chicago family groups, synagogues, vereins, landsmanshaften, and other organizations purchased sections in the Jewish Waldheim area located in Forest Park,  North Riverside, and Broadview.   Many of these sections had different owners, prices, rules, regulations, and individual caretakers.  Many of these sections were also rigidly divided by gated fences, ornate entrances and dividers, some of which still remain today.

The first Jewish internment in the Jewish Waldheim area was held in 1873; at that time, funeral processions and visitors faced a day-long excursion from the Maxwell Street neighborhood to the graves of their loved ones. To make it easier for the individuals coming to the Jewish Waldheim area and other nearby cemeteries daily, a special funeral route train service was begun in 1914 on the Metropolitan Elevated “L” tracks. This service operated for over two decades and was finally curtailed on July 13, 1934. Although reconfigured over the years, there is still an “L” train stop at Forest Park served by the CTA’s Blue Line.

After being a force and foundation in the Jewish community of Chicago since their inception, these immigrant-based organizations began to slowly dismantle. The effects of second and third generations assimilating into the landscape of suburban America, combined with the lack of new members and new funding were among the contributing factors. Unfortunately with the demise of these groups and the lack of uniform cemetery standards the Jewish Waldheim area began to look tired, old, and neglected.

However, thanks to the emergence of a handful of the cemeteries’ original caretakers, the rich history lives on today. Learn more about the legacy of Waldheim Cemetery Co. and what we mean to Chicago’s Jewish families.

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