By Barbara Hadley Smith, The Garden Club of Frankfort

The Frankfort Cemetery is more than a burial ground. It is a park where tourists visit historic sites and residents walk for exercise, and events are held in honor of past heroes and sheroes.

The cemetery was created in 1844 by Judge Mason Brown, son of statesman John Brown, who was inspired by a visit to Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts. Brown enlisted the support of other Frankfort leaders and on Feb. 27, 1844, the Kentucky Legislature approved the incorporation of the cemetery.

Brown hired Scottish-born landscape architect Robert Carmichael who designed the curving lanes, terraces and vaults in circles in the Romanesque style. Carmichael planted flowers and trees from around the state, making the cemetery an arboretum.

Above, the interior of the Frankfort Cemetery Chapel, which was built in 1890. Electricity, heating and air conditioning were added in later decades to make the chapel useable year round. (Photo by Barbara Hadley Smith)

A small chapel was added in 1890 on a cliff overlooking Frankfort, where the original home of the cemetery caretaker stood. It was built from Kentucky River marble at a cost of about $9,000. A two-story shed of similar material was constructed for tool storage behind the chapel.

The chapel has been a special project of The Garden Club of Frankfort since the late 1960s. The club worked with the Kentucky Heritage Commission to get the chapel listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 12, 1974.

The chapel is painted a pinkish beige called Sandbank with moss green accents. The Garden Club of Frankfort maintains the garden surrounding the building. (Photo by Rosie Doerting)

“The mission of the club, which is in its 101st year, encourages civic planting and working for the preservation and restoration of Frankfort’s beauty,” Teresa Abel, Garden Club of Frankfort president, said. “The cemetery chapel is certainly a jewel in our community.”

During the 1970s, The Garden Club of Frankfort planted 20 pink and white dogwood trees at the entrance to the cemetery; created a standing committee dedicated to restoration and preservation of the building, installed new wiring and replaced the original stained-glass windows, which were stolen, with amethyst art glass windows.

In the 1980s, the club members planted 1,000 daffodil and tulip bulbs at the cemetery entrance to mark the chapel’s 100th anniversary.

Since that time, the club has raised money for the chapel and completed roof repair and painting and continues to maintain the grounds surrounding the chapel. Plans include placing benches in the garden of the chapel.

The chapel, which now has heat and air conditioning, has served the community in many ways, as a place for funerals, small weddings, and as a meeting place for clubs and organizations. It can be rented for a fee, but no food or drink is allowed inside the building.

To schedule use of the chapel, call the Frankfort Cemetery office at 502-227-2403.



The chapel is a Romanesque structure surrounded on three sides by a covered veranda. Doric columns flank each of the three entrances with a broad arc crossing over the front. (Photo by Rosie Doerting)
Right, the Garden Club of Frankfort adopted the chapel and the surrounding garden as one of its civic beautification projects in the 1960s. (Photo by Rosie Doerting)