For a little history on Oakland- I pulled this from their website:
Art, Architecture and Poetry
Oakland’s funerary art is unequaled in the area. Elaborate mausoleums, soaring sculptures and effusive inscriptions speak of an age when the bereaved found consolation in extravagant expression.
Oakland’s funerary art is unequaled in the area. Elaborate mausoleums, soaring sculptures and effusive inscriptions speak of an age when the bereaved found consolation in extravagant expression.
Impressive art and architecture can be seen in many styles: Victorian, Greek Revival, Gothic, Neo-classical, Egyptian and Exotic Revival. Several mausoleums feature stained glass windows from Tiffany Studios. Bronze urns over six feet high were cast at Gorham Manufacturing Company in New York, the first art foundry in America.
Figures carved from stone droop in sorrow, gaze pensively or reach to the heavens. The best known is the massive “Lion of Atlanta,” marking an estimated 3,000 graves of unknown Confederate soldiers disinterred from the battlefield. Icons are everywhere, employing symbols that speak a language of grief unknown in contemporary culture. The expertise of Historic Oakland Foundation plays an important role in preserving knowledge of 19th Century funerary symbolism and communicating its meaning.
Enjoy!
