Tour - Bridgetown Cemetery Tour #1

Bridgetown Cemetery Tour #1

Cincinnati, Ohio 45211, United States

Created By: Bridgetown Cemetery

Tour Information

Part one of the walking tour of Bridgetown Cemetery. This tour focuses on the original, rural cemetery named “The First German Protestant Cemetery of Green Township”, established in June 1864. This portion of the tour looks at the mainly German Protestant population of Green Township in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the changes in the surrounding community which necessitated the change in direction for the cemetery from rural, ethnic-based cemetery to inclusive, multi-ethnic population. Please park along the side of the road nearest the receiving vault. For more information about the cemetery, please see http://www.bridgetowncemetery.com.

Tour Map

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What You'll See on the Tour

Begin tour- Original Entrance of Cemetery

The original entrance to the Cemetery. Purchased in the summer of 1864 by a group of local Protestant landowners, the cemetery was named “The First German Protestant Cemetery of Green Township”. The land originally was part of an es... Read more

Original Iron Fence

The cemetery board installed this fence in the late 1930’s as traffic was beginning to increase on the newly renamed Bridgetown Road. It was an upgrade from an old wooden fence meant to keep livestock from nearby Cleves-Louisville Pike ... Read more

Musekamp Family Lot

Musekamp Family Lot. George Musekamp was one of the original trustees of the cemetery. He was a well known Doctor in the area. He was also involved in local politics, having served as an elected official in both Hamilton County and Gr... Read more

Pilgrim United Church of Christ(aka First German Protestant Church of Green Township)

The First German Protestant Church of Green Township was established in 1871 on 1/2 acre of land donated by the cemetery. Many of the original cemetery trustees were also founding members of the church. The original church was construct... Read more

Ahring Family Plot

This family plot holds the remains of George Ahring, one of the original trustees of the cemetery. This section of the cemetery is the original section laid out as a typical rural cemetery. There are no discernible rows, and the family... Read more

Musecamp/Muesekamp lots

This stop is the last resting place of more members of the Musecamp family. The largest headstone of Johanna is very unique to the cemetery and stands out as different from many of the other headstones from the 1800’s. This features a... Read more

First opened section.

This section of the cemetery is the first that was opened, and contains some of the oldest burials. This section, labeled “Section 1”, contains all family lots. Many inscriptions are written in German, highlighting the majority of t... Read more

New single lot section

This section was laid out in the early 1900’s to handle a continued influx of newer residents in the early 20th century as roads improved and newer transportation options like streetcars and early automobiles began to be available to res... Read more

Menz Family Lot

The Menz Family served on the cemetery board for many years tfrom the early 1900's until 1985. Many family members helped shape the physical layout of the cemetery through negotiations with the Schaeperklaus family to purchase the farm ju... Read more

Cemetery Receiving Vault

The cemetery receiving vault was built in 1876 when a need was presented to the board of trustees for a place to store bodies when the weather did not allow for graves to be dug by hand by the cemetery sexton in a timely manner. This rece... Read more

John Grinstead Headstone

John Grinstead was a former Chief of Police for the nearby city of Cheviot. His headstone prominently features the Chief of Police badge for the city of Cheviot. Bridgetown Cemetery was the cemetery of choice for many prominent public o... Read more

Headstone shaped like a tree without limbs.

This interesting monument is the headstone of Helena and Phillip Knierim. These "tree stones" are meant to symbolize lives cut short, in this case, Helena died around the age of 45. These stones were often sold out of a Sears/Roebuck Ca... Read more

Menz/Morretta Family Plot

This family plot contains the graves of more members of the Menz family, which helped shape the cemetery from its time as a rural cemetery to the opening of the newer sections after WWII. Harold and Edward Menz both were longtime trustees... Read more

Ruebel Family Plot

The Ruebel Family has a large place in local history. They owned large plots of land in Green Township, from which quarries were operated for stones for the foundations of many buildings of the time period. They also operated what many ... Read more