Mapa Cesko Marodniho Hrbitova [Bohemian National Cemetery]

Advertising plots for a new expansion at Bohemian National Cemetery, just outside of Chicago.

This detailed plan of Bohemian National Cemetery (Český národní hřbitov) was published in Chicago by The Frank Pavlicek Co. in 1902, shortly after the completion of a major expansion to the southeast. Text in the upper right calls out the additional sixty acres, purchased for $60,000.

A view of the gatehouse (constructed in 1893 and still standing today) can be seen in the lower left, and several other sites such as the (Civil War) Veteran’s Monument, Kacel Circle, and the Crypt are labeled within the grounds. From the cemetery’s official history;

“Bohemian National Cemetery was founded in 1877 by eight Bohemian benevolent societies “to provide a suitable burial site for persons of Bohemian birth or extraction.” Ten years later, the cemetery was opened to all nationalities on a nonsectarian basis. John V. Benes laid out the first burial sections in the initial 40 acres using a plan similar to Chicago’s street grid. An expansion to the east and south, with graceful curving sections, was mapped in 1902 by August Petrtyl.”

Notable internees include Anoton Cermark (assassinated mayor of Chicago) and numerous victims from the Eastland sinking, one of the deadliest accidents in American maritime history.

Sources: Bohemian National Cemetery; Atlas Obscura