| Additional Information: | 2019 City of New Berlin survey recommendation write-up:
Covering over 77 developed acres, this memorial park-type cemetery is laid out with curvilinear roadways that delineate each burial section. The grave markers, most of which are made of bronze, are flat and flush to the ground. In addition to the landscape itself, which includes trees, bushes, gardens and a large lagoon near the entrance off of W. Greenfield Avenue, the grounds include a 1960s Contemporary Style office building (1960; #239712), stone entrance gates/markers (Ca. 1930s; #239713), a sign (Ca. 1950s; #239714), a large storage and maintenance building, a columbarium, as well as a five Carrera Marble sculptures that were hand-carved in Carrera, Italy, and shipped to the cemetery and installed in the 1950s. The largest of the sculptures is a life-sized depiction of the Last Supper which is located at the far southeast corner of the grounds.
Originally established by a group from West Allis, the Highland Memorial Park Cemetery was established in October 1928 with an initial plat of 30 acres. The first burial occurred in August 1929. The Memorial Park concept is attributed to Hubert Eaton who, after acquiring a failing cemetery in Glendale. California, established in 1917 the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, the first of what would be a “chain” of six Forest Lawn Memorial Park cemeteries in Southern California. Rather than the traditional vertical monuments, Forest Lawn utilized flat grave markers into the landscape and, thus, developed park-like rolling lawns. Water features, statuary or gathering spots are generally incorporated into memorial park landscape design plans, such as they are at Highland Memorial Park. Although memorial park design was utilized in the 1920s and 30s, “it was not until the end of World War II that it became the dominant type of funerary landscape."
In 1947, E. Glen Porter joined the Highland Memorial Park company and, four years later, he and his wife Charlotte purchased the cemetery. Since that time, it has been continually owned and managed by the Porter family, with Dr. E. Glen Porter and his wife Kay joining in 1964. Twenty years later, E. Glen Porter III entered into the business (and who continues to manage it today), while his wife Phyllis joined in 1987. In 1960, the current office building was erected; its design was completed by the firm of Schutte, Phillips & Mochon.
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| Bibliographic References: | Permit dated 9 May 1960; est. cost, $40,000.
Historical & Architectural Resources Survey, City of New Berlin, Waukesha County, Wisconsin prepared by tes | Historical Consulting, LLC, 2019.
Footnotes for 2019 City of New Berlin survey information provided below:
“Cemeteries In New Berlin,” Material available on the new Berlin Historical Society website, http://www.newberlinhistoricalsociety.org/articles/31-cemeteries-in-new-berlin, Accessed August 2019.
“Memorial Park Looks Back on 20 Years,” Waukesha Daily Freeman, 16 July 1951, 7; Elise Holmberg Herron, “Breathing Life Into the Cemetery: Creating a New Typology for American Cemeteries,” Master of Landscape Architecture Thesis, Clemson University (May 2012), 13, Available online at https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/709d/b002d8a52ccf806d6fd0666a385fc8b4da6e.pdf, Accessed August 2019; “About Forest Lawn,” Available online at https://forestlawn.com/about-us/, Accessed July 2019.
“Office Building for Highland Memorial Park,” Original plans, Undated, but stamped approved by the Industrial Commission of Wisconsin as of 29 August 1960, Plans on file at the Highland Memorial Park offices, New Berlin, WI; “History of Highland Memorial Park,” Available on the cemetery’s website at https://highlandmemorial.com/ history.html., Accessed June 2019; “Cemeteries In New Berlin.” |
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