Property Record
6400 W. Burleigh St
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Wanderers' Rest Cemetery |
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| Other Name: | Lincoln Memorial Cemetery |
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| Reference Number: | 246379 |
| Location (Address): | 6400 W. Burleigh St |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
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| Year Built: | 1894 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2024 |
| Historic Use: | cemetery |
| Architectural Style: | NA (unknown or not a building) |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | Y |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | 2024: DESCRIPTION Lincoln Memorial Cemetery was established in 1894 as Wanderers' Rest Cemetery (AHI 246379). At present, the cemetery is a 75.58-acre parcel on the Northwest side of Milwaukee bounded to the west by W. Appleton Avenue, W. Burleigh Street to the south, and N. 60th Street to the east. Characteristic of the Rural Cemetery Movement, the cemetery features curving pathways and a wooded landscape of mature oaks and maples. The pathways meander through approximately 16 sections that are marked by large rocks engraved with the section number or letter. The grave markers and monuments vary in size and material throughout the sections and are generally newer and fewer in the northern sections of the cemetery. The built environment consists of an early twentieth century outdoor chapel (AHI 118693) and a mid-twentieth century office-indoor chapel building (AHI 118692), utility building (AHI 246382), mausoleum (AHI 246380), and memorial (AHI 246381). The entrance to the cemetery is at the southwest corner of the property at the corner of W. Burleigh Street and W. Appleton Avenue. Other features of the setting include fieldstone stairs and knee walls constructed circa 1929 that provide access to the west and northeast sides of Section B and line the service area along the west border, a statue (potentially a former fountain) in Section H, and shelter in Section C adjacent to N. 60th Street. A concrete retaining wall lines the south side of the cemetery along W. Burleigh Street as the terrain descends below the grade of the roadway. SIGNIFICANCE In 1894, members of area Lutheran congregations formed the Concordia Cemetery Association and purchased the 84-acre P. McCarty farm at Appleton Avenue (historically the north Fond du Lac plank road) and Burleigh Street which was at that time outside of Milwaukee’s municipal boundary and in a predominantly rural setting. The land was developed into the Wanderers’ Rest Cemetery which was established in 1894 as a Lutheran denominational cemetery. In 1929, the outdoor chapel and other landscape features were constructed near the cemetery entrance. The office-indoor chapel building, the Luther Memorial Gardens, and the Mausoleum were constructed in the mid-twentieth century, between 1955 and 1971. Subsequently, Wanderers’ Rest Cemetery experienced a period of neglect, deferred maintenance, and fraud for which the owners at the time were convicted for stealing money from the cemetery and its patrons. The cemetery was purchased in a sheriff sale in 1988 and renamed to disassociate it with the previous negative publicity. The Lincoln Memorial Cemetery is now a non-denominational cemetery. The initial development of the cemetery coincided with the Rural Cemetery Movement which generally spans several decades of the nineteenth century between 1830 and 1900. During this period, the Rural Cemetery Movement was the result of increasing urban centers impacted by industrialization and immigration, overcrowding of early city cemeteries, and landscape designers’ professional interest in European garden precedents. |
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| Bibliographic References: | “Lutherans Who Favor the McCarty Farm Form a Company,” Milwaukee Journal (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) 22 January 1894: 3. “General City News,” Milwaukee Journal (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) 19 June 1894:2. Mike Christopulos, “Wanderer’s Rest is renamed,” Milwaukee Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) 25 August 1988: 5. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |