About
True to his pioneering and visionary spirit, Fr. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., established Cedar Grove Cemetery in 1843, a year after he founded the University of Notre Dame. At that time, Cedar Grove was on the far outskirts of campus and run by the same Holy Cross priests and brothers charged with keeping a fledgling university afloat. The Holy Cross brothers established a mortuary in these early years, ran operations from the basement level of what is now a women's residence hall, and used a horse-drawn hearse to transport coffins from Sacred Heart Church in the center of campus out to the cemetery. The mortuary operation, one of the first in the state of Indiana, was sold in 1911 to a local owner still in business today.
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Grounds
Cedar Grove Cemetery inhabits 22 acres of land at the entrance of Notre Dame's campus.
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All Souls Chapel
All Souls Chapel, the original chapel at Cedar Grove Cemetery, was designed and constructed in the early 1850’s by Brother Francis Xavier.
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Mausoleum Complex
The four mausolea and four columbaria in the Our Lady of Sorrows section continue to afford crypts for the interment of the full body and niches for the inurnment of cremated remains.
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St. Joseph Columbarium
A statue of the Patron of Workers graces this columbarium for faculty, staff, and retirees.
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History
True to his pioneering and visionary spirit, Fr. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., established Cedar Grove Cemetery in 1843, a year after he founded the University of Notre Dame.