In 1857, the Couch Brothers, owner's of Chicago's Tremont Hotel, built this mausoleum in what was then a public cemetery on the edge of Lake Michigan. Designed by John Van Osdel, Chicago's first professional architect, the classically-inspired structure is composed of limestone block masonry. The remains of the six Couch family members and one family friend are in the tomb.
In the 1850s, less than twenty years after the creation of the City Cemetery, citizens became concerned that cholera, small pox and other diseases were spreading because of the sandy site's poor burial conditions. In response to citizen requests, the city reserved a 60-acre unused section of the cemetery as Lake Park. In 1865, shortly after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the city remained the site Lincoln Park, and allocated $10,000 for improvements. Northsiders continued lobbying for the removal and conversion of the remaining cemetery to parkland. Finally, in 1869, the State approved new legislation requiring that bodies be exhumed and moved to other cemeteries. Although all of the headstones and other mausoleums were removed, the Couch Tomb remained in Lincoln Park. It has long been believed that the Couch family fought the removal of their tomb in the courts; however, it is unclear whether a suit was ever filed.
Sometime during Lincoln Park's early history, the ornamental iron fence which originally surrounded the Couch Tomb was removed. In 1999, a generous gift of the Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust funded the reconstruction and installation of the fence.
Photograph courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society
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