Concordia Cemetery in Buffalo uses Grant Funds to support Roof and Fence Repairs
One of only four cemeteries remaining in Buffalo city limits, Concordia Cemetery is the final resting place for thousands of the city’s early residents
ERIE COUNTY, NY— Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz today joined Concordia Cemetery Foundation President Lynn Sciog, Diane Pesch-Savatteri and other Cemetery Directors, Division of Cemeteries representative Michael Catena, and Commissioner of Environment and Planning Dan Castle along with departmental personnel to review improvements made possible through an Erie County Cultural Capital grant. The $38,353 grant was critical in helping the volunteer-only Cemetery Foundation replace the 50-year-old roof on their circa 1845 farmhouse and barn as well as replacing the damaged wrought iron fence at the front of the property.
“Cultural capital grants make a big difference by supporting local cultural organizations with a funding boost to help them maintain and improve their space. These funds make possible needed repairs that these organizations might not be able to execute on their own,” said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz. “Concordia Cemetery is the final resting place for thousands of early residents of Buffalo and many Civil War soldiers as well. It has a place on both the New York State Register of Historic Sites and the National Register of Historic Places and is a great example of how we are restoring, maintaining and improving our heritage assets through cultural capital grants.”
Formed in 1859, Concordia Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries in Western New York and one of only four that remain within the Buffalo city limits. Originally, the land was owned by John and Magdelene Stellwagen. It was sold in 1859 to three German Protestant churches to be shared as their burial ground: St. Peter’s German Evangelical Church founded in 1835, St. Stephen’s Evangelical Church organized in 1853, and First Trinity Lutheran Church founded in 1839. The term “concordia” means harmony and is a reference to the coming-together of the 3 church congregations to share this property.
Currently there are over 21,000 people of all ethnic backgrounds, cultures and religions at rest at the historic fifteen-acre cemetery.
"Erie County has been invaluable in their support for our volunteer-only organization,” added Concordia Cemetery Foundation President Lynn Sciog. “Their help has enabled us to preserve and protect this historic property."
Concordia contains many lovely and unique monuments including a cast zinc memorial, a metal cross, many red Medina sandstone (a material indigenous to Western New York) monuments, and many tombstones containing epitaphs, poetry and biblical passages in German or displaying biographical information such as the interred’ s place of birth in Germany. The carvings on the tombstones reflect the Victorian perception of death as a peaceful sleep instead of earlier views of death as something fearful (as seen using skull and crossbones which were common in the 18th century). Many monuments feature carvings of flowers such as passion flowers and lilies, cherubs, angels, ivy, willow trees, religious symbols, and lambs. In addition to tablet shaped headstones there are many obelisks common to Victorian era cemeteries.
The cemetery is a non-profit organization with no paid staff whose volunteers were recognized in 2011 by Preservation Buffalo Niagara with their prestigious annual award honoring the cemetery's work in Neighborhood Conservation.
For more information:
On Concordia Cemetery, visit https://concordiabuffalo.org/
On the Department of Environment & Planning, visit https://www3.erie.gov/environment/
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