Interesting Places I've Photographed
Barney Mausoleum
Springfield, MA
Topic: Sculptures of Springfield
GPS: N42° 04.558; W072° 34.824
Quick Description:
Barney Mausoleum is
located in the Laurel Hill section of Forest Park in Springfield.
Long Description:
Everett Hosmer Barney made his fortune as a Civil War arms producer and later as a businessman, developing clamp-on ice skates and roller-skates. In 1890 Barney built a Victorian mansion on a hill overlooking the Connecticut River. When he died he bequeathed his estate and an endowment to the City of Springfield to build and maintain a public park, which is now part of Forest Park. In 1892, Everett Barney constructed an elaborate granite and marble mausoleum for his son on a Laurel Hill, a short distance from his Victorian mansion.
The mausoleum became the final resting place of Everett Hosmer Barney, his wife Eliza Jane Knowles Barney and their son, George Murray Barney. The structure has two sets of stairs leading up to a temple consisting of twelve, fluted, pink marble, Ionic columns. On each end of the temple is the inscription 1892 LAUREL-HILL. At the base of each side of the temple is the inscription: TO LIVE IN HEARTS WE LEAVE BEHIND IS NOT TO DIE. Each stairway is guarded by a sphinx. The entire mausoleum is surrounded by an an ornate iron fence with a motif featuring oak leaves and acorns. The site has a commanding view of the Connecticut River and the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts.
A small bronze plaque attached to the iron gate has the inscription:
Circa 1892
Restored 2004
In Appreciation to
Executive office of Environmental Affairs
Barney Trustees
City of Springfield Administration
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