Vale Arboretum

"The Vale," as it was called, was a child born of the Rural Cemetery Movement, which began in 1831 at Mt. Auburn Cemetery near Boston.

In 1856, the Common Council concluded the land known as the Hospital Farm, off Nott Terrace (a 38-acre plot), then a rural area outside the city, would be a suitable site for a public cemetery. On June 2, 1857, Mayor Benjamin V.S. Veeder was authorized to oversee the road grading and tree planting for the new cemetery. Burton Thomas and John Doyle designed a park-like landscape with pastoral vistas. More than 1,000 trees of various species were planted. Vale Cemetery was dedicated on Oct. 21, 1857, by Rev. Julius Seelye.