Oak Ridge Cemetery

The Cemetery has memorials for the Korean War, World War II and the Illinois Vietnam Veterans Memorial. “On May 14, 1856, an ordinance was passed forbidding the further establishment of burying grounds within the city of Springfield. A tract of land containing twenty-eight and one half acres, lying two miles north of the Capitol, was purchased by the City, for the establishment of a Cemetery, adequate to the necessities of the growing city, and sufficiently remote from the business center and every - day life to render a fitting abode to the dead.”  (Oak Ridge Cemetery Records) Since 1865, the cemetery has grown to be the largest Municipal cemetery in the state of Illinois, encompassing 365 acres of beautiful rolling prairie land, thousands of hardwoods and conifers, and over 75,000 interments. Oak Ridge Cemetery has the distinction of being the second most visited cemetery in the nation, second only to Arlington National Cemetery.  Almost one million visitors enter our gates annually not only to pay respects to their deceased families and ancestors, but to also visit the final resting place and pay homage to our distinguished sixteenth President, Abraham Lincoln. Over eighty other notable dignitaries are interred at Oak Ridge Cemetery including several former governors and legislators.  Labor leader John L. Lewis and John Kelly, the first settler in Springfield as well as world famous poet and singing troubadour Vachel Lindsay are also among the notables interred at Oak Ridge.  Please take the cemetery tour on this website to discover more of the history of Oak Ridge Cemetery.