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A path leads from the street, between a series of rough granite
boulders, towards a concrete disk. (This photo was taken in 2004,
before the construction of the arch which now spans the entrance).
A large bronze plaque on the far edge of the disk reads:
Cook County Cemetery at Dunning - 1854
An institutional cemetery was established
on this site in 1854 on land that was a part
of the 20-acre Cook County Poor Farm. It
soon became the potter's field for the
forgotten and poor of Chicago and
Cook County.
Buried here are as many as 38,000 people
including children, inmates of the poor
house and insane asylum, 117 victims of the
Chicago Fire of 1871, and Civil Ware veterans.
Often referred to as the County Ground,
Cook County Farm Cemetery, Cemetery at Jefferson,
or Poor House Cemetery, it was
renamed Chicago State Hospital Cemetery
in 1912.
This marks the site of the main section of
this historic burial ground. Another section
of the cemetery is located west of
the intersection of Irving Park Road and
Oak Park Avenue.
As you walk through this three acre
memorial park, you will come across
markers dedicated to those who died at
various periods in Cook County's history.
Peace be upon them all.
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GRAVEYARDS.COM:
Graveyards of CHICAGO