Crown Hill Cemetery
700 West 38th Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46208
GPS Coordinates:
39.825619, -86.172215
County: Marion
Record count: 5,008
Ownership: Service Corporation International
Directions: Located in the Crown Hill neighborhood of Indianapolis, the cemetery is bounded at the south-east corner of 38th St. and Dr. MLK Jr. St.
Background: Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana, was established in 1863 on Strawberry Hill—later renamed “The Crown”—as a response to overcrowding and industrial encroachment at Greenlawn Cemetery. A group of civic leaders formed the Association of Crown Hill on September 25, 1863, and purchased 166 acres for the new cemetery, formally establishing it on October 22, 1863. Landscape architect John Chislett Sr. and horticulturist Adolph Strauch designed the grounds, and Chislett’s son Frederick became the first superintendent in December of that year. The cemetery was dedicated on June 1, 1864, and its first burial was Lucy Ann Seaton. In 1866, the U.S. government designated 1.4 acres of Crown Hill for a national military cemetery, now located in Sections 9 and 10.
Today, Crown Hill spans 555 acres and contains more than 225,000 graves. It is the third-largest non-governmental cemetery in the U.S. and the final resting place of many notable individuals, including President Benjamin Harrison, Vice Presidents Thomas A. Hendricks, Charles W. Fairbanks, and Thomas R. Marshall, poet James Whitcomb Riley, and bank robber John Dillinger. The cemetery features monuments and structures by renowned architects and sculptors, and its Crown Hill Heritage Foundation, established in 1984, helps preserve its historic character. Crown Hill was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 28, 1973.
Transcriptions
We have 2 transcriptions for this cemetery.
- Confederate Plot at Crown Hill, compiled by Interment.net, April 17, 2025, (1,605 records)
- Veteran Affairs Database, compiled by Interment.net, April 17, 2025, (3,403 records)