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Lancaster's Northeast is home to the historic Lancaster Cemetery, Saint Mary's Cemetery and Cemetery Shaarai Shomayim. While there are many stories to be told about the inhabitants of our local cemeteries, I found something noteworthy about Lancaster's history in the Greenwood Cemetery at the southern end of our City. The first private crematorium was built in 1876 by Dr. Julius LeMoyne in North Franklin Township, Washington County. His theory, that the four-hour cremation (actually a 48 hour process from pre-heat to cool down) was "merely accelerating the natural process of decay", took time to become accepted. The one at Greenwood, the first public crematorium in the United States, was built a few years later in 1884 by surgeon Miles L. Davis. Dr. Davis was an expert in contagious diseases and his services became in demand in larger cities in the Northeast US as populations grew and doctors were searching for a way to safely return bodies that were overcome by infectious diseases. Remarkably both of these buildings still stand.  The Lancaster Crematorium was built in the Late Gothic Revival Style, measures 48'x32' and has a moderately pitched gable roof. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. I shared a few articles below that display the conversation and controversy surrounding Lancaster's first crematorium, as well as later articles placing the crematorium into the larger historical narrative.
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