Property Record
1540 E MAIN ST, OAK HILL CEMETERY
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Oak Hill Mausoleum |
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| Other Name: | Oak Hill Mausoleum |
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| Reference Number: | 76907 |
| Location (Address): | 1540 E MAIN ST, OAK HILL CEMETERY |
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| County: | Jefferson |
| City: | Watertown |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1986 |
| Historic Use: | cemetery building/monument |
| Architectural Style: | Neoclassical/Beaux Arts |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Stone - Unspecified |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Constructed into the hillside; classical styled swags on frieze; double leafed entrance door; arched construction with stone facade; triangular shaped pediment supported by console and square applied pilasters. The Oak Hill Cemetery began on May 14, 1850, when a group of pioneers met to form a community cemetery association in Watertown. Prominent pioners such as John Richards, Luther Cole, Linus R. Cady, and Heber Smith were involved with the founding of the cemetery. The name of the cemetery came from the first location, on West Main St., north of St. Bernard's Catholic cemetery. The land there was filled with oak strees, but unfortunately, was also low and damp and after 15 years it proved to be unsuitable for further development as a cemetery. In 1865, the association decided to buy 13 acres at the end of E. Main St. The land here was elevated and had good drainage and the cemetery remained there ever since, adding 14 more acres in the nineteenth century alone. Some of Watertown's most prominent citizens have been associated with the Oak Hill Cemetery and in the 1910s a chapel was erected on the grounds. As the main community cemetery in Watertown, Oak Hill is part of the public landscape in the city and has been since 1865. The Oak Hill Cemetery is historically interesting because it is Watertown's community cemetery, founded by pioneers for the good of the community. The Oak Hill Cemetery Mausoleum is significant under criterion C as an example of Neo-classical influenced cemetery architecture. Exhibiting a classical entablature ornamented by classical swag designs, the Oak Hill Mausoleum is also an example of an unusual construction method that emplys an arched form bulidt into the hillside. Constructed on land purchased in 1864 by the Oak Hill Cemetery Association formed in 1850, the well-preserved Oak Hill Mausoleum is used presently for storage. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) The History of Jefferson County, Wisconsin (Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879), p, 465. (B) Carl Emmerling, "You Ought to be Glad You are Living in Watertown, the Big Town of Jefferson and Dodge Counties," Published serially in the Watertown Daily Times, August, 1921. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |