Status: 2/3 Abandoned

A cemetery so beautiful and as sad as the Greenwood Cemetery AKA Knights Of Pythias Cemetery I have rarely seen. Upon entrance through the stone pillars that stand at the forefront of this historical burial ground, nothing appears unusual about it. It’s quite calm and peaceful, it seems. After recently being floored by the neglect of the largely unkempt Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia, my regular exploring friends wanted me to see this particular one and described it as making Moriah “look like a golfing green” in comparison, in the words of my friend Ed. Suffice to say, I was anxious.

The 43 acre Greenwood (Knights Of Pythias) Cemetery was converted from a farm and officially opened on October 26, 1869. The farm property, of which “Mt. Airy”, the residence of Stephen Decatur, Sr. was bought shortly thereafter. “The Greenwood Cemetery Company of Philadelphia” was also chartered, but then changed to the “Knights of Pythias Greenwood Cemetery Company of Philadelphia” on March 18, 1870. There is still a historic house at the front of the property, parts of which date back to the mid-1700’s. Another interesting tidbit about this particular location is that Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration Of Independence, once lived in this house. If this name sounds familiar to you, another reason for this is because when Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry first opened, it followed Dr. Rush’s theory that the mentally ill should be treated with medicine and kept away from the rest of society until cured.

I was very eager to see this cemetery after hearing that only about a third of it is maintained and the rest has been once again reclaimed by nature. Just past the freshly mowed green grass and clear paths lies something that can only be described as the perfect filming location for a zombie movie. Gravestones past the treeline have been vandalized and broken, and some appear to have even fallen on their own. Monuments to those who have passed on long ago are entangled in vines, and some are so broken and worn that they’re just barely visible above the lush carpets of green ivy, tall weeds, and other forms of wildly overgrown greenery.

We stumbled our way through the brush, and the sea of broken tombstones, discarded car parts, and full bodies of abandoned cars seemed endless. There were also piles of various types of rocks scattered about, which made us believe that perhaps this may have been a natural quarry. At one point, we stopped to gape at what appeared to be a group of Muslim graves when we noticed something bone chilling immediately to the right of us. It was a large stone propped up on a mound of dirt and other rocks, and on the front of it was carved the words “LEAVE THIS PLACE”. This was by far the creepiest thing I have ever seen in a cemetery, and I’ve seen many cemeteries!

One last point of interest of the Greenwood Cemetery are the graves of W.C. Fields’ parents. As we made our way over to take a gander at the historic house on the property, someone in our group pointed out the location of these graves. We drew closer and noticed an elderly man visiting a grave nearby, so we hung back a bit out of respect and gradually worked our way over when we saw him heading toward his car.

As we approached the graves of James and Kate Dukenfield, the elderly man, much to our surprise, said matter of factly, “That’s where W.C. Fields’ parents are buried.”

My friend commented, “Wow, such small graves.”

The elderly man muttered, “What a cheapskate…” as he turned to walk away.

If you’re a cemetery enthusiast and you’re ever in the Philadelphia area, I highly recommend giving this one a look. Even though it sure looks like it, there are no zombies here, I assure you. I know, we were disappointed too.

- Ember, 2009