On a sunny summer afternoon, grab your lawn chair, pack your picnic lunch, and head for… the graveyard? That’s right, back in the day, Holy Name Cemetery on West Side Avenue provided 63 acres of shade trees and meandering lanes that gave 19th century city dwellers a taste of the country. In 2016, this historic burial ground celebrates its sesquicentennial: 150 years of sending Roman Catholic families to their eternal rest.
Historic Moment
This recognition comes at a pivotal time for Roman Catholic parishes in Hudson County. In a kind of divine downsizing, many have closed or consolidated—in marked contrast to the historic circumstances that brought Holy Name Cemetery into being.
Joseph Verzi is assistant executive director Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Newark. “Years ago every church had its own cemetery,” Verzi relates. As Jersey City grew, there were 100 Catholic churches, and there wasn’t room for each to have its own cemetery.
When a big tract of land was donated on West Side Avenue, “it became the diocesan cemetery,” Verzi says. “All the churches in Jersey City used it, and over time it became the place where all Catholics in Hudson County were buried.”
In 1866, it cost $10 for a plot. Now it’s $2,000. This is just one way that Holy Name reflects the evolution of Jersey City. Another are the artistic flourishes that ornament the grounds. When the cemetery first opened, “local artists couldn’t get a lot of work,” Verzi says, “so they made gorgeous statues for the cemetery. Today, there are just square headstones.”
Some of the statuary and artwork came from buildings being constructed in New York City. “People had a lot of money before the Depression,” Verzi says. “A lot of the fancy artwork for those buildings ended up being shipped over to the cemetery for memorials and markers, some as high as 10 stories; big crosses and statues came from those buildings. It was the only work the artists had.”
The gravestones also reflect Jersey City’s changing demographics. Early on, Verzi says, there were Irish, Italian, and German sections. Now there are Filipinos, Latinos, and Koreans. “Over the years the cemetery is an archive of the community,” Verzi says. “All you have to do is put on your walking shoes, walk down the lanes, and there is history upon history.”
Holy Name also added a section for veterans. “You can see all the flags and the military markers, and once a year they have a huge wreath-laying ceremony.”
The Plot Thickens
While the cemetery has logged some 264,000 burials, today, there is no more space, even for headstones, so a modern mausoleum was built. “In Europe they are used to mausoleums,” Verzi says.
In 2005, the first community garden mausoleum with 1,300 crypts was added. Made of solid granite and nearly the length of a football field, the building includes five gabled and gated alcoves with recessed panels topped with decorative granite motifs, and walls in various granite colors.
In 2010, a two-story chapel mausoleum was built on West Side Avenue. The neoclassical granite structure is adorned with decorative, tapestry-like carvings. Skylights allow for plentiful light. The mausoleum also features numerous original works of liturgical art, including stained glass windows and an ornate, two-story mosaic.
Verzi notes that at one time, “there was a church on every corner in Jersey City, Italian, Irish, German on three corners.” When those churches were combined or closed, magnificent works of art and stained glass found their way into the new mausoleum. Parishioners from closed churches such as Saint Lucy or Saint Boniface Parish Church often come in to view this precious artwork.
The cornerstone of the mausoleum’s theme is a suite of windows rescued from Saint Boniface, a community established in the early 1860s to serve the large German population of lower Jersey City. The stained glass windows, completed in 1896, were designed by a glass studio in Austria. Each window was given to the parish by either a family or organization of the Saint Boniface community.
Star Dust
Many notable Catholics are buried here, including former Jersey City Mayor (1917-1947) Francis “Frank” Hague; former state Senator Thomas Cowan; Justice Marie Garibaldi, the first woman appointed to the New Jersey Supreme Court; Frank Sinatra’s grandparents; Robert Hopkins, a crew member in charge of lifeboat #13 on the ill-fated Titanic; four other Titanic survivors with ties to Hudson County; and many Hudson County veterans from as far back as the Spanish American War and Civil War.
Says Verzi, “It’s not a place of death but of hope.”—Kate Rounds
Holy Name Cemetery and Mausoleum, 823 West Side Ave., is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, visit rcancem.org.