Crown Hill Cemetery, Funeral Home & Heritage

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1: Waiting Station

For Google Map Directions to this location, the address is:

3402 Boulevard Place
Indianapolis, IN 46208

GPS: 39 49'02.93" N 86 09'53.69" W

Located at 34th St. and Boulevard Pl., the Waiting Station is located just inside the eastern stone gate entrance to Crown Hill. The offices the Crown Hill Heritage Foundation (920-4165 or 920-2644) are located in this building.

GUIDED TOUR PARTICIPANTS: unless noted otherwise, all guided tour participants will meet their guide in front of this building.

Both the gate and the Waiting Station were built in 1885.

2: Gothic Chapel

Built in 1875, and renovated and restored in 2004, the Gothic Chapel is a beautiful historic structure which is used for a variety of events including funerals, memorial services, concerts, dinner functions, weddings, and lectures.

GPS: 39 49'02.29" N 86 10'18.21" W

3: James Whitcomb Riley's Memorial & The Crown

Located on the top of "The Crown," the burial site of the famous Hoosier poet affords an unparalleled 360-degree panoramic view of the entire Indianapolis skyline. It's elevation is 842.21 ft., making it the highest hill in Marion County and a popular destination for visitors and those taking one of our many guided tours. Most of our public guided tours are designed to end at the the Riley Memorial to watch the sunset.

For information on guided tours, please send an email to mdavis@crownhill.org or call 317-920-2726.

GPS: 39 49'11.25" N 86 10'38.40" W

4: Crown Hill National Cemetery

The Crown Hill National Cemetery was established by the U.S. government during the Civil War. There are thousands of Union Civil War soldiers buried here, as well as soldiers from other wars and conflicts with the last burial being that of a Vietnam war casualty.

Crown Hill's annual Memorial Day Ceremonies are held on the grounds of the National Cemetery each year.

GPS: 39 49'00.77 N 86 10'22.33" W

5: Confederate Mound

Located on Section 32, the Confederate Mound is a National Cemetery and is the final resting place of 1,616 Confederate Civil War soldiers who died at Camp Morton, a Civil War Prisoner of War Camp located north of downtown Indianapolis.

A Civil War Memorial Service is conducted at this site each Memorial Day.

GPS: 39 49'12.02" N 86 10'10.55" W

6: Field of Valor

The Field of Valor is Crown Hill's newest military section. Dedicated on Veterans Day 2004, it is the final resting place of many veterans and several Iraq War casualties. Located on the north side of the mausoleum is an Eternal Flame which was dedicated on Veterans Day 2005, along with Eagle Plaza to the east.

Please join us for our annual Veterans Day Ceremony held on the Sunday before Veteran's Day in the Crown Hill Funeral Home.

For information on special veteran's benefits, please call our office at 317-925-8231 or send an email to info@crownhill.org.

GPS: 39 49'37.26" N 86 10'31.65" W

7: Field of Valor's Eagle Plaza

Dedicated on Veterans Day 2005, Eagle Plaza consists of a beautiful eagle statue and flags.

GPS: 39 49'37.61" N 86 10'27.29" W

8: Crown Hill Mausoleum & Peace Chapel

The Crown Hill Mausoleum is an indoor mausoleum consisting of a south and a north building. Designed in Art Deco style of architecture, this building was dedicated in 1951 after taking two and a half years to build. On the upper level of the Crown Hill Mausoleum is the Peace Chapel, which features the stained glass artistry of the Eli Lilly Family Memorial window.

Public restrooms are available in this building.

GPS: 39 49'37.35" N 86 10'23.05" W

9: Crown Hill Funeral Home and Administration Building

For Google Map Directions to this entrance, type in the following then drive north to the red marker at the gate:

38th Street and Clarendon Road
Indianapolis, IN 46208
Or GPS: 39 49'32.00" N 86 10'19.57" W

Or scroll down to the bottom and click on "get directions to here."

Located at 700 West 38th St. on the corner of 38th St. and Clarendon Road, the Administration Building was built in 1968. The Crown Hill Funeral Home, an beautiful extension onto the northern end of the Administration Building, was dedicated in the Spring of 1993.

With the addition of the funeral home, families can now make all their funeral and burial arrangements in one convenient location.

Contact Information:
Crown Hill Cemetery & Funeral Home
700 West 38th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46208
Cemetery Office: (317) 925-3800
Cemetery FAX: (317) 925-8240
Funeral Home Office: (317) 925-3800
Funeral Home FAX: (317) 920-2638
E-mail: info@crownhill.org
www.crownhill.org

Crown Hill Heritage Foundation
www.crownhillhf.org
Tour & Event Recording: (317) 920-2726
Group Tour Info: tours@crownhill.org
Support the Foundation: development@crownhill.org

You can find "Crown Hill Cemetery & Funeral Home" and "Crown Hill Heritage Foundation" on Facebook.

10: President Benjamin Harrison's Memorial

Each August a wreath-laying ceremony is held to celebrate his birth. Harrison was born in 1833 and was buried in March 1901. Located on Section 13, you can follow a paved walkway leading to his memorial.   

GPS: 39 49'08.06" N 86 10'32.32" W

Pres. Benjamin Harrison was our nation's 23rd president.He was grandson of the nation's ninth President, William Henry Harrison. His father John Scott Harrison was an Ohio congressman but his notoriety came after his death: His body was stolen by grave robbers. Horrified family members launched a search discovering the remains hanging on a hook at the Ohio Medical College in Cincinnati awaiting illegal use as a medical specimen.

Benjamin was born in North Bend, Ohio on his fathers farm adjacent to his grandfather's vast estate. As a child, he hunted, fished, hauled wood, tended livestock and studied at home with private tutors. Enrolled at Miami University in Oxford, he graduated at the top of his class and studied law with a firm in Cincinnati. One year later, he had his own law practice and married Caroline Lavina Scott, a girl he had known as a teenager. They moved to Indianapolis to escape the notoriety of his famous family. Benjamin quickly became involved in politics which was interrupted by the civil war which found him as a member of the Indiana Volunteers attaining the rank of brigadier general. After the war, he returned to political life becoming an influential Republican party broker. He was named to the United states Senate where he championed pensions for civil war veterans, protective tariffs, a modernized navy and conservation of western lands, issues that he would uphold as President. In the closing days of the administration, Caroline died of tuberculosis. He was swept out of office handing former President Grover Cleveland a decisive victory. He remained active in public life becoming an "elder statesman" lecturing on constitutional law at Stanford University and serving as chief counsel for Venezuela in a boundary dispute with British Guiana. Benjamin Harrison married his deceased wife's niece, Mary Lord Dimmick, a widow nearly thirty years his junior. The last Civil War general to serve as president, died from pneumonia in the bedroom at his home on Delaware Street in Indianapolis at age 67. The body of President Harrison lie in state in the rotunda of the State Capitol with services at the First Presbyterian Church and interment in the family plot here.

(Some text quoted from findagrave.com)

11: John H. Dillinger

GPS: 39 49'19.57" N 86 09'53.37" W

An infamous career criminal, John Dillinger was made an outlaw hero during thedepths of the Depression by Americans mired in financial ruin, loss ofhope and simply frustrated by desperation brought on by the times. Hewas hardly a "Robin Hood" figure envisioned by the public. John was acold-blooded killer. In one year, September 1933- July 1934, he and hisviolent gang terrorized the midwest, killing 10 men, wounding seven,robbing banks and even police arsenals to replenish arms and ammunitionneeds. While staging three jail breaks, a sheriff was killed and twoguards seriously wounded.

He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana to agrocer. Hisburial location is marked with a "Dillinger" monument and individualheadstones for he and his father, also named John, and his mother. Ifyou visit his memorial, please note that John was buried in July 1934and his father was buried years later.

(Some text quoted from findagrave.com)

12: Anatomical Section

This section is reserved for those individuals who have donated their bodies to the I.U. School of Medicine.

GPS: 39 49'16.95" N 86 09'51.12" W

13: Service Yard

A collection of buildings built in the early 1920s, these structures serve as the maintenance facilities for the cemetery.

GPS: 39 48'49.83" N 86 09'54.23" W

14: Pine Mausoleums

Located on the southeastern side of the cemetery, the Pine Mausoleums provide a beautiful setting for above-ground burials.

GPS: 39 48'50.88" N 86 10'04.23" W

15: Abbey, Garden Mausoleums & Cremation Garden

Located northeast of the Crown Hill Mausoleum, the Abbey and Garden Mausoleums provide above-ground entombment options.

The beautiful new Cremation Garden provides many niches in a lovely garden setting with flowers and a waterfall fountain.

GPS: 39 49'40.73" N 86 10'18.46" W

16: 34th Street & Boulevard Place Stone Gate Entrance

The south or eastern entrance to Crown HillCemetery is located at 34th Street and Boulevard Place. (You might notethat 34th Street dead ends at this intersection.)

For Google Map Directions to this location, the address is:

3400 Boulevard Place
Indianapolis, IN 46208
Or GPS: 39 49'02.27" N 86 09'52.96" W

Or scroll down to the bottom and click on "get directions to here."

The Waiting Station building (green marker) is located just inside of this magnificent gate on the north side, and houses the offices for Crown Hill Cemetery's Marker Sales (920-9075) and the Crown Hill Heritage Foundation (920-4165).

(GUIDED TOUR PARTICIPANTS: unless noted otherwise, all guided tour participants will meet their guide just inside this gate in front of the Waiting Station building.)

Built in 1885, this magnificent Gothic stone gate is the primary entrance for many visiting Crown Hill and most funerals will enter Crown Hill through this gate. Upon entering through the gate you will see the Waiting Station (1885) on the right (north side) and the Sentry House (1904) on the left (south side).

This triple-arched stone gate was designed by Indianapolis architect Adolph Scherrer and completed just in time for the funeral procession of Vice President Thomas A. Hendricks on Nov. 30, 1885.

17: Heroes of Public Safety Memorial

The Heroes of Public Safety Memorial and Section were dedicated in September 2002, one year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States and the death of Marion County Sheriff's Deputy Jason M. Baker, who was killed in the line of duty on Sept. 17, 2001. This area honors all members of the public safety community and is the site for numerous events and memorial services throughout the year. Inscribed on the walkway surrounding the monument are the names of all law enforcement officials and firefighters killed in the line of duty in Indiana.

For information on "Beyond the Badge 5K Run/Walk" held at Crown Hill each September (and runs by the memorial), visit: www.heroesofpublicsafety.org. This event raises funds for the Jason M. Baker Public Safety Scholarships, which provide funds for students seeking a career in public safety. You can find "Beyond the Badge 5K Run/Walk" on Facebook.

18: The "Subway" (Underpass)

Designed by the architectural firm of D.A. Bohlen and Son, the "Subway" (or Underpass) was constructed in 1927 at a cost of $170,000.

For those unfamiliar with Crown Hill it is a surprise to discover this structure which passes beneath 38th Street to connect the northern and southern sections of Crown Hill, eliminating the need to leave the property to cross 38th Street.

GPS: 39 49'29.22" N 86 10'22.87" W

19: Northern Entrance to Crown Hill

The northern entrance to Crown Hill Cemetery is located on Clarendon Road, just north of 38th Street.

For Google Map directions to this gate, scroll down to the bottom and click on "get directions to here."

For those familiar with the area, Clarendon Road proceeds directly into Butler University, located just a few blocks to the north.

Clarendon Road is also the first stop light east of the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), which is located across the street from us on the west side at 38th St. and Michigan Road. If coming from the east, Clarendon Road is the fourth stop light west of Meridian Street.

GPS: 39 49'34.42" N 86 10'17.47" W

20: Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA)

Located across the street from Crown Hill, the IMA is a favorite destination for many who visit Crown Hill and is a very popular cultural landmark and a nice place for lunch.

21: Indiana AIDS Memorial

This memorial is dedicated to individuals who have died from AIDS.

GPS: 39 49'15.91" N 86 10'34.19" W

22: Scattering Garden

Located in a peaceful and natural setting in the woods, the Scattering Garden is an excellent option for those who choose cremation and want an alternative to a ground burial or entombment.

GPS: 39 49'21.07" N 86 10'30.59" W

23: Crown Hill's First Burial - Lucy Ann Seaton

Buried June 2, 1864, Lucy Ann Seaton was only 33 years old when she died of consumption and became Crown Hill's first burial.

Since her burial there have been approximately 195,000 burials and entombments at Crown Hill.

GPS: 39 49'06.83" N 86 10'23.63 W

24: Pioneer Cemetery

25: Green Burial Section

An alternative to traditional ground burials, our green burial section offers individuals another option in a beautiful setting. Call (317) 925-3800 or write to info@crownhill.org for more information.

GPS: 39 49'20.76" N 86 10'30.26"W