Last Updated on: 14th September 2025, 06:27 am
Visiting a major cemetery is often one of the best ways to learn about a city’s history and its former notable residents. And Milwaukee’s Forest Home Cemetery is no exception.
Located in the Lincoln Village neighborhood, the cemetery expands out to over 200 acres, with over 118,000 thousand people buried within. It was established in 1847 at a time when this land was located about two miles outside of Milwaukee’s city limits.
As with New York’s Green-Wood Cemetery, Forest Home became a popular gathering spot for Milwaukee residents at a time when the city lacked designated public parks. And coming here remains a great way to enjoy a sunny day.
There are a few different ways to explore Forest Home Cemetery. One way is to show up and simply explore, which is the type of experience described below. But the more prior research you do on the city’s important figures, the more you’ll get out of your visit.
You can also join an official tour run by Forest Home itself, though be sure to check the schedule in advance.
Exploring Forest Home Cemetery
Many of the prominent historical figures buried at Forest Home Cemetery have rather simple and unassuming tombs, and thus aren’t that easy to spot. One major exception, however, is the mausoleum of Valentin Blatz, a German-American brewer.
Blatz (1826-1894) immigrated to America in the 1840s, a time when a large number of Germans were coming to the Midwest and buying cheap farmland. And much like St. Louis and other cities, many of these immigrants struck it rich by starting their own breweries.
Notably, Blatz, the founder of the Valentin Blatz Brewing Company, was responsible for the first individually bottled beer in Milwaukee.
Today, his large granite mausoleum also houses numerous other family members, while the structure could be considered Forest Home Cemetery’s unofficial symbol.
Near the Blatz Mausoleum are the graves of other prominent Milwaukee brewers, many of them also of German origin. Some of them include members of the Pabst family, owners of the Pabst Brewing Company which remains a beloved company to this day.
But it was actually founded in 1844 by Jacob Best, who’s also interred at Forest Home Cemetery. Other prominent brewers, meanwhile, include Joseph Schlitz, whose company was eventually sold to Pabst.
As I was primarily stopping to photograph the most eye-catching mausoleums and tombstones, I seem to have missed the resting places of many of Forest Home’s most prominent inhabitants.
But I did manage to spot the tombstone of Matthias Stein, Milwaukee’s first gunsmith. He too was a German immigrant.
Forest Home Cemetery also functions as an arboretum and is home to over 100 different tree species. But centuries prior, this area was once home to dozens of Indian effigy mounds.
Sadly, none of them exist anymore, though it’s not clear if they were destroyed to make way for the cemetery itself, or due to the urban sprawl which currently surrounds it.
In any case, if you’re interested in ancient mounds, there are still plenty to see around the Madison area.
Just across from the main office, you’ll find the Chapel Garden & Abby, a large green space featuring numerous sculptures.
And right across from it is the Halls of History which simultaneously serves as a mausoleum and historical exhibit. In addition to housing over 600 crypts, it also features information about the history of Milwaukee.
Also nearby is the Landmark Chapel, built in the Gothic Revival style in 1892. Made of Lake Superior sandstone, its basement served as a crematory that remained in use for over a hundred years until 1998.
Just past it, visitors can take a rest in the Victorian Gardens.
I spent the rest of my visit seeking out more tombs and admiring their architectural features.
Some of the more elaborate mausoleums contain intricately carved sculptures, while one can also see influence from various styles of architecture that were popular throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
Some of the tombs, for example, were inspired by the Greek Revival style.
One of the biggest sources of inspiration during this era was the architecture of ancient Egypt. You’ll find seemingly countless obelisks, while some of the more elaborate mausoleums feature scarab beetles which represent a safe passage to the afterlife.
Elsewhere around Forest Home Cemetery, you can find the graves of 26 Milwaukee mayors, over 1,000 Civil War veterans, and different quarters belonging to different religions.
Other notable figures not mentioned thus far include Eraster B. Wolcott, Wisconsin’s surgeon general in the Civil War, Christopher Sholes, the inventor of the typewriter, and William A. Davidson of Harley Davidson Motorcycles.
While perhaps not worth going far out of your way for, the cemetery is well worth a stop for those who find themselves visiting or merely passing through the Milwaukee area.
