Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio

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Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum (200 acres), located at 118 Woodland Avenue, Dayton, Ohio, is one of the oldest "garden" cemeteries in the United States.

Woodland was founded in 1841 by John Whitten Van Cleve (July, 1801—6 September, 1858), the first male child born in Dayton. He was the son of Benjamin Van Cleve and Mary Whitten Van Cleve. The cemetery began with 40 acres southeast of Dayton and has been enlarged to it present size of 200 acres. Over 3,000 trees and 165 specimens of native Midwestern trees and woody plants grace the rolling hills. Many of the trees are more than a century old and 9 have been designated "Ohio Champions." The highest point in Dayton is within the cemetery, and during the 1913 flood, it became a place of refuge.

The Romanesque gateway, chapel and office, completed in 1889, are on the National Register of Historic Places. The buildings were constructed of the stone from the original cemetery wall. The chapel has one of the finest original Tiffany windows in the country. A mausoleum, with a rock and bronze exterior, features twenty-two varieties of imported marble and twelve large stained glass windows inspired by famous literary works. It was added in 1970.

The monuments, ranging from rugged boulders to Greek statues and temples, memorialize the lives of people who helped shape the nation and the city. Woodland is the final resting place for more than 100,000 people, including:

John H. Balsley, inventor of the folding step-ladder
Loren M. Berry, inventor of the Yellow Pages
Erma Bombeck, humorist and writer
Mrs. Leslie Carter, actress
Dr. William Hale Charch, DuPont Chemist, inventor of moistureproof cellophane for food packaging.
Daniel C. Cooper, surveyor and Proprietor of Dayton
James M. Cox, newspaper publisher, Governor of Ohio and Presidential candidate
Edward A. Deeds, engineer, inventor and industrialist
Paul Laurence Dunbar, poet
John Glossinger, popularized the Oh Henry! candy bar
George P. Huffman, industrialist (Huffy Bicycles)
Andrew Iddings, inventor of the stereoptic (3-D) camera.
Charles F. Kettering, inventor
L. L. Langstroth, father of American beekeeping
George Mead, industrialist (Mead Paper)
John H. Patterson, industrialist (NCR)
James Ritty, inventor of the cash register
James Findlay Schenck, Rear Admiral, United States Navy
Robert Cumming Schenck, Civil War General, member of US Congress and Ambassador to Brazil and United Kingdom
Levi and Matilda Stanley "King and Queen" of the Gypsies
John W. Stoddard built the Stoddard-Dayton automobile
Clement Vallandigham Congressman and Copperhead leader
Wilbur and Orville Wright, inventors of the first practical flying machine
David Ziegler first mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio