Leverington Cemetery

Leverington Cemetery is a historic non-denominational cemetery established in 1745 in the Roxborough neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Leverington Cemetery
Details
Established1745
Location
6075 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
CountryUnited States
Coordinates40°02′02″N 75°12′47″W
TypePublic
SizeNine acres
Websitewww.leveringtoncemetery.com
Find a GraveLeverington Cemetery

Description

The cemetery is located at 6075 Ridge Avenue[1] in the Roxborough neighborhood[2] of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania[1] and covers nine acres.[3]

The cemetery is open for new burials, but only had six between 2016 and 2019.[4]

History

The cemetery property was previously a farm owned by Wigand Levering in the 1690s. He was a settler on the land granted to William Penn in 1681. The cemetery started as a burial location on the farm for Levering and his family and after 1744, became known as the Roxborough Burial Ground.[4] It became part of the Roxborough Baptist Church[5] but ended its connection with the church and was incorporated as Leverington Cemetery Company in 1857.[6]

Monument for 17 American Revolutionary soldiers from Virginia buried in Leverington Cemetery

The cemetery contains the graves of 17 soldiers from Virginia killed by British troops in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War. The soldiers were trapped inside a barn set ablaze by British troops and shot as they tried to escape. An obelisk monument was built in the cemetery in their honor.[7]

By 1947, the cemetery was abandoned and had fallen into disrepair. The Philadelphia department store, Wannamaker's, wanted to purchase the land, relocate the bodies and use the property as a shopping center. Richard Lee Entwistle Jr. established the Leverington Cemetery Company and took control of the cemetery to prevent its destruction. The cemetery ownership has remained with the same family and is currently run by Entwistle's granddaughter, Randi Mautz.[4]

Burial records for the cemetery were lost in 1966 due to a fire.[5]

In 2013, WHYY-TV listed the cemetery as one of the top six haunted and eerie spots in Northwest Philadelphia since it was known as "one of most actively documented locations for orbs and apparitions in Philadelphia".[8]

Notable burials

References
  1. "Leverington Cemetery". www.localcemeteries.net. Local Ascension LLC. October 31, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  2. Westcott, Thompson (1876). The Official Guide to Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Porter and Coates. p. 313. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  3. "Leverington Cemetery". www.leveringtoncemetery.com. Leverington Cemetery Company. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  4. "Leverington Cemetery preservation, a family mission for owners with deep Roxborough roots". www.roxboroughpa.com. Roxborough Development Corporation. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  5. Oordt, Darcy (2015). Haunted Philadelphia - Famous Phantoms, Sinister Sites, and Lingering Legends. Guilford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot. p. 233. ISBN 978-1-4930-1579-5. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  6. Laws of the General Assembly of the State of Pennsylvania, Passed at the Session of 1859, in the Eighty-Third Year of Independence. Harrisburg: A. Boyd Hamilton. 1859. pp. 788–789. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  7. Steele, Frank B. (December 1923). The Minute Man - Official Bulletin National Society Sons of the American Revolution. Washington, D.C. p. 50. Retrieved January 23, 2023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. Brooks, Emily. "Top 6 haunted and eerie spots in Northwest Philly". www.why.org. WHYY. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
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