Mount Auburn Cemetery to Open New Welcome Center at Historic Gateway

Cambridge, MA (September 23, 2026) — Mount Auburn Cemetery, America's first rural garden cemetery and a National Historic Landmark, will open a new Welcome Center to the public on September 23 at its historic Egyptian Revival Gateway, creating a more welcoming and accessible place for families, visitors and neighbors to begin their experience of Mount Auburn.

The opening comes as historic cemeteries across the country invest in new visitor centers, gathering spaces and programming designed to strengthen their connection with the living. For Mount Auburn, it is also a return to the founding vision that helped redefine what a cemetery could be. Nearly two centuries ago, Mount Auburn helped introduce a new model of the American cemetery, one where burial and remembrance existed alongside beauty, public access, and inspiration. 

The Gateway itself is central to that history. Built in 1832, one year after Mount Auburn’s founding, it was the Cemetery’s first structure and quickly became one of its defining images. Rebuilt in Quincy granite in 1842, the Gateway helped establish Mount Auburn’s public identity and influenced cemetery entrance design across the United States. In Mount Auburn’s earliest years, visitors arrived on foot and by horse-drawn carriage through the Gateway, which served as their introduction to a new kind of American landscape. The new Welcome Center restores its historic role as a place of welcome and orientation while reimagining that purpose for today’s visitors. 

“Mount Auburn helped introduce America to the idea that a cemetery could serve the dead, comfort the bereaved and welcome the living,” said Matthew Stephens, President and CEO of Mount Auburn Cemetery. “Nearly two centuries later, cemeteries across the country are reimagining what it means to be truly welcoming. For us, this Welcome Center is both a return to our founding idea and an investment in the future. We want people to understand from the moment they arrive that Mount Auburn is a sacred place of remembrance and also a place of beauty, history, nature, learning and human connection.”

The new Welcome Center reflects Mount Auburn's ongoing commitment to helping more people discover the many ways the Cemetery serves families, visitors and the wider community.

Whether someone comes to honor a loved one, attend a program, explore Mount Auburn’s landscape and horticultural collections, or simply spend time in reflection, the Welcome Center will give every visitor a place to begin. 

Staff and volunteer docents will provide wayfinding assistance, help locate loved ones' graves and connect visitors with resources to explore Mount Auburn's 175-acre landscape. The Welcome Center also includes a curated gift shop, floral tributes and a new bluestone plaza where guided tours will begin. Together, these improvements create a more welcoming, pedestrian-friendly arrival while preserving the historic character of the Gateway.

Today, Mount Auburn remains an active cemetery serving families and loved ones while welcoming more than 200,000 visitors each year to experience its history, horticulture, art, architecture, wildlife and cultural programming. Through tours, birding and horticulture programs, concerts, art installations and other experiences, Mount Auburn continues to carry forward its founding vision of a place where remembrance, beauty and inspiration coexist. 

The Welcome Center will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., including weekends.

Mount Auburn will celebrate the opening of the Welcome Center with a public event on September 23. For more information, visit www.mountauburn.org.

Media Note:
Historic and contemporary images of Mount Auburn’s Egyptian Gateway are available, including archival photographs, paintings and illustrations showing visitors entering Mount Auburn across generations. Interviews with Mount Auburn President and CEO Matthew Stephens and additional experts can also be arranged.

About Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery was established in 1831. Within a forested landscape nestled between Fresh Pond and the Charles River in Cambridge and Watertown, its founders created a new kind of cemetery — one where the bereaved could find solace and visitors from all walks of life would find inspiration. Home to more than 100,000 permanent residents, Mount Auburn welcomes more than 140,000 visitors each year and is open 365 days a year free of charge. Recognized as one of the most significant designed landscapes in the country, Mount Auburn is a National Historic Landmark and led to the public parks movement in this country. www.mountauburn.org.

Media contact:
Catherine Horan
Denterlein
choran@denterlein.com