Green Hill Mausoleum within Green Hill Cemetery
During an outing to Martinsburg, West Virginia, in late October of 2024 my father and I found Green Hill Cemetery, a beautiful old 17 acre cemetery atop a hill with a short road leading straight to a mausoleum and most of the graves laid out in concentric rings around the mausoleum. We’d driven up by the mausoleum and just as I’d gotten out of the car to begin looking around and exploring another car drove up and the man inside asked if he could help me, that he was the caretaker of the cemetery. I mentioned how beautiful all the old grave stones were with some very distinctive designs, and how impressed I was with the mausoleum, that I was hoping to create some photographs around the grounds. He offered to unlock the mausoleum and allowed me inside to look around and photograph and shared a lot of the history of the location. It was a fantastic experience and I just wish my memory were better because he shared so many details.
The cemetery is from the 1850’s and was incorporated in early 1854 and dedicated later that year. The design is apparently inspired by a cemetery in Paris, France, viewed by a Martinsburg local artist who created sketches that inspired the design for this location. The stone mausoleum was built in 1917 and is of a Neo-Classical Revival design, featuring stained glass windows and bronze entrance doors that have taken on that beautifully distinctive patina of aged bronze.
A view of Green Hill Mausoleum through the trees.
Getting ready to enter Green Hill Mausoleum. Note, I was using a wide angle lens close to the building which caused some geometric distortions. I attempted to reduce these in post-processing but that resulted in some other geometric distortions. The columns are actually circular, not oval.
Entering the mausoleum leads immediately to a small chapel area. Behind the gates is a fireplace, and a stained glass window is on either side.
Turn left after entering the mausoleum and this is what you’d see, with a beautiful stained glass window at the end of the wing.
On the right side is another wing with a stained glass window at the end. Also visible is the device used to raise or lower a casket into position.
The cemetery itself, given its age and location, is the resting place of war veterans of many different eras, from the Revolutionary War to the present. It’s a fascinating bit of history. Below is a quote from the Green Hill Cemetery website that beautifully describes the cemetery:
Experiencing Green Hill Cemetery is like taking a step back in time. It is a must-see site in Martinsburg, WV. Steeped in history and cultural significance, it’s hard to overstate the importance of this Historic Cemetery. It is truly an outdoor museum. Ornate inscriptions, stained glass and massive mausoleum contrast with simpler monuments and markers, all of which together relate the story of a city and its people. Still an active cemetery, these hallowed grounds still today offer comfort and inspiration to the living, so take the time to visit and discover the hidden treasures of this tremendous Historic Cemetery.
The stained glass window in the left wing of the mausoleum.
The stained glass window in the right wing of the mausoleum.
The stained glass window to the left of the fireplace.
The stained glass window to the right of the fireplace.
The more I looked around the more I noticed the reflections of the stained glass windows.
Here I attempted to frame the reflection and one of the mausoleum name plates.
I spent a fair bit of time inside the mausoleum talking with the caretaker and then attempting to photograph in the very low light (I didn’t have my tripod with me). I wish we’d had more time to spend walking around the outside as there were some beautifully designed gravestones. He mentioned one style that is in the shape of a tree trunk, but cut short to indicate a life taken too soon. The shorter the tree trunk the younger the person was when they died.
Looking out the mausoleum door to the yellow autumn foliage.
Another view out the mausoleum doors.
A view back into the mausoleum with some of the stained glass visible in the background
A look back at the closed bronze doors of the mausoleum. The coloration of the doors differ here because of a warmer white balance.
A detail from the bronze doors of the mausoleum.
A closeup of the door handles of the mausoleum.
I liked the juxtaposition of the distorted old glass, reflections from the cemetery and the stained glass seen inside.
I tried to do the location justice through my photographs. Most focus on the mausoleum where I spent the majority of my time. One day I’d love to return to spend more time photographing the cemetery grounds. On this trip we were fortunate to have some of the colors of autumn, which can be lovely in this part of West Virginia, along with beautifully cloudy weather that helped soften the light and provide some interest in the sky. It really was a perfect time to visit.
A view of graves beside the mausoleum.
A view of the cemetery which sits atop a hill overlooking parts of town.
We were fortunate to have the weather and clouds we did, as well as some of the colorful foliage of autumn.
Another view of gravestones within Green Hill Cemetery in autumn.
A final view of the gravestones at Green Hill Cemetery.
Please be aware if you ever visit the location that it is a private cemetery and on private property and can be closed at any time at the discretion of the caretakers. As always, be respectful.
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