Greenwood Cemetery tour explores pioneers who shaped City

BIRMINGHAM, MI, September 11, 2018—The Friends of the Birmingham Museum are holding a guided tour of the Greenwood Cemetery in conjunction with Birmingham’s Bicentennial on Saturday, September 22 at 1:00 p.m., with a special emphasis on the stories of people who made their mark on Birmingham in the pioneer period, 200 years ago.

Birmingham’s Greenwood Cemetery is among the oldest public cemeteries in Michigan and beloved for its grace and the beauty of its grounds. Located on Oak Street west of Old Woodward, it is the final resting place of many of the earliest settlers of the area as well as those who helped build the pioneer settlement into a thriving and prosperous community that has evolved into modern-day Birmingham. Among those featured on the tour are early settlers and family of Elijah Willits, John West Hunter, and John Hamilton. Also included are touring doctor, inventor, and founder of Oakland County Medical Society Ebenezer Raynale, prominent early settler Ziba Swan who donated the land for the cemetery after the horrific murders of Polly and Cynthia Ann Utter; Hugh Irving, who fought in the civil war and father William, who raised funds to help build the civil war memorial now in Shain Park; Henry Randall, civil war veteran who lived in the Hunter House and moved it the first time in 1893; and educator, women’s rights advocate, and firebrand Martha Baldwin, who left her unmistakable stamp on the town in the late 19th century. The stories of many other fascinating people interred at Greenwood will be presented by docents in costume at this popular annual event.

Tickets for the cemetery tour are $10 per person, $20 per family and are available for purchase before the tour at the east gate on Oak Street. Please note there is no parking in the cemetery.

The cemetery tour complements the current year-long exhibit at the Birmingham Museum, “The People of Birmingham: Celebrating 200 Years of Stories,” a crowd-sourced exhibit that features stories of people from Birmingham’s past and present. Inspiring personal stories and memories of well-known and not so well-known citizens are displayed on panels in this unique approach to celebrating the City’s Bicentennial.

To find out more, call the Birmingham Museum at 248-530-1928 or visit us online at www.bhamgov.org/museum.

The Birmingham Museum is located at 556 West Maple. Exhibit hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., and until 8:00 p.m. on the second Thursday of the month. Two hours of free parking is available at the Chester Street Parking Deck; credit card required for entry and exit. For more information, call 248-530-1928 or visit www.bhamgov.org/museum . Museum admission is $7 for adults; $5 for students and seniors. Kids 5 and under and Friends of the Birmingham Museum members are free.