Hazel Dell
Hazel Dell Overview
Internment Area/Landscape
Former boggy area regraded and first lots sold: mid 1800s
Landscape redesign: Laurence Caldwell, 1936
Landscape Renovations: 2023
Located near the main entrance to Mount Auburn off Central Avenue, Hazel Dell is bordered by a steep esker of Indian Ridge Path on one side and the sloping hill off Linden Path on the other. Winding paths wend around the hollow that includes two oak trees and extensive plantings. The former boggy area was regraded in the mid 1800s, and in 1861 the Cemetery built a fountain in the center of the Dell. The slope of Indian Ridge Path had initially been considered unsuitable for lots due to health concerns at the time about above-ground burials. Starting in the 1860s, Mount Auburn constructed twelve tombs into the side of Indian Ridge Path. On the south and west side of the Dell, the Cemetery built a granite retaining wall and placed family lots according to a plan by Cemetery Superintendent Charles W. Folsom in the early 1870s. Monuments along the hill leading from the wall include a tomb, obelisk, Celtic cross, pedestals, stairs, and flat ledger stones. Memorials in the Dell commemorate families and individuals involved in local businesses, medicine, education, and the arts over the past two centuries. In 1936, a redesign effort by landscape architect Laurence Caldwell included filling in the pond and adding plantings. Renovations in 2023 incorporated additional plantings and more accessible pathways.
