Mt. Carmel Cemetery - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
November 20, 2017 - Numerous headstones are still toppled over despite reports that restoration work had been completed. Mt. Carmel Cemetery. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Located at:
5701 Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mailing address according to the City of Philadelphia:
5722 Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19135-3803
Mailing address according to the 2015 Form 990 filed with the IRS:
6061 Oxford Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19149
Phone: 215-535-1530 and 215-535-1535
Sign at Mt. Carmel Cemetery. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
About:
I was here on February 27, 2017 to photograph the extensive damage caused by vandals at Philadelphia's Mt. Carmel Cemetery. You can see those photos here.
I came back to do a follow-up on November 20th.
New fencing is in.
Some of the stones were re-set.
I was simply surprised that despite raising "about $300,000," the reality is the work isn't done yet. It is a gigantic job to restore the whole cemetery to how it should be. Perhaps they are doing it in stages?
Other observations:
If there is room for more burials here, I have no idea how they can get equipment in there to dig? It's very tight.
And as far as placing a new headstone in here that matches the size of existing stones, this would be very difficult due to the lack of maneuvering space. It would probably require a large crane, parked along the street. (Very expensive.)
If you decide to visit this cemetery, keep children out, and stay clear of any leaning headstone. These are big, heavy stones, and they can be extremely dangerous.
Resources:
This sign is at Mount Moriah Cemetery. But it would be appropriate to have a few of these here, at Mount Carmel.
