Monroe Street Cemetery – Monroe Street Cemetery Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, all-volunteer organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of the oldest public cemetery on Cleveland's west side.

Featured biographies of people buried in the Monroe Street Cemetery

Christopher & Maria Louisa FreseMarch 17, 2020
Christopher Frese 1834-1904; Maria Louisa Frese 1828-1904 The weather report for the 28th of June 1904 called for partly cloudy conditions and “light and fresh, east to southeast winds.” It promised to be a little warmer than …
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Benjamin F. TylerMarch 15, 2020
Benjamin Tyler, 1803 – 1865; Sarah Tyler, 1809 – 1880 Benjamin F. Tyler was born in Jefferson County, New York, in 1803. He came to Cleveland in 1832 as the principal representative of an investment group from …
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Anson and Amy SmithFebruary 12, 2020
Anson: 1795-1891Amy: 1797-1877 Anson Smith was born in New London, Connecticut, and as a young man he started a very successful business as a woolen merchant. The great financial period of the 1830s found Anson’s business failing …
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August & Wilhelmina RuthenbergJanuary 1, 2020
August: 1839 – 1898Wilhelmina: 1846 – 1914 Charles: July 9, 1882- March 3, 1927 On September 16, 1920, as the bells of Trinity Church in New York City’s Wall Street district were ringing noon, a dynamite-laden horse-drawn …
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Isabell RoyJanuary 1, 2020
3/22/1850 – 11/15/1867 What follows is a newspaper account that appeared in the New York Times on November 22, 1867. The story of the murder of Isabell Roy was sensational enough to induce that major east coast …
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The Monroe Street Cemetery Foundation

Mission Statement

The Monroe Street Cemetery Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, all volunteer organization was established to preserve and enhance the historic cemetery grounds, headstones, monuments and burial structures located at 3207 Monroe Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, as well as providing educational opportunities for the general public and other public awareness activities.

The City of Cleveland must maintain Monroe Street Cemetery (one of twelve cemeteries operated by the City of Cleveland), but is financially unable to maintain and preserve it adequately. In order to assist the City of Cleveland with its burden with respect to maintaining the cemetery, concerned citizens formed the Foundation. The Foundation will work to preserve its historic significance, share in some responsibilities for the maintenance of the grounds, and assist the City of Cleveland in obtaining funding for improvements to structures and features of the Cemetery.

Specifically, the Foundation will dedicate its resources to the following:

The Foundation will assist the City of Cleveland in landscaping the grounds of the Cemetery.
The Foundation will preserve and enhance the Cemetery by operating programs for restoration of damaged headstones and mausoleums. The Foundation will work to improve the conditions of the burial plots so that family members and the general public may safely visit the historically significant burial sites at the Cemetery.
The Foundation will also preserve the rich history of the pioneers of the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, State of Ohio and its nation through research and education of the public.
The Foundation will provide limited research and photograph services to persons with loved ones buried in the cemetery and/or persons doing genealogical research about persons buried in the cemetery.
The Foundation will take part in community activities that will promote the historic and cultural values of the Ohio City Historic Districts.

The Monroe Street Cemetery Foundation is an Ohio Corporation with Federal Employer Identification Number 26-1792248.