Bucket List: View Dayton from the cemetery

Dayton Bucket List: cuz you’ve got to really see Dayton before you sleep with the fishes

Yeah, this is going to sound a little morbid…

But one of the coolest places to see in Dayton before you die is the final resting place of some of the city’s most well-known citizens.

It is not nearly as creepy as it seems.

The view of Dayton’s skyline from the lookout at Woodland Cemetery & Arboretum, 118 Woodland Ave., is unexpected and inspiring.

The spot — the highest point in the city — has long been beloved. The cemetery built the Lookout Columbarium and dedicated it on July 10, 2010.

It is modeled after the structure that stood at the highest point in the cemetery during the late 1800s and early 1900s. It was a gathering place for Dayton families back then and attracts lovers, sightseers and those looking for a quiet spot for lunch today.

You might as well visit a few gravesites while you are at the well-manicured cemetery that opened in 1840. The Wright Brothers, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Erma Bombeck are among those buried at Woodland.

You can find famous graves on your own (Woodland loans guests CDs, headsets and a CD player for self-guided tours from the office between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Mondays - Fridays and 8 a.m. - 10 a.m. Saturdays) or check out one of the cemetery’s guided tours.

Details:

Historic Woodland Cemetery & Arboretum

118 Woodland Ave., Dayton

Cemetery gates open at 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday. All gates close by 6 p.m. in the winter and 7 p.m. in the winter.

Call: 937-228-3221

Contact this blogger at amelia.robinson@coxinc.com or Twitter.com/DDNSmartMouth

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