Odd Fellows Cemetery

Odd Fellows Cemetery - Soldier’s Circle Monument

Odd Fellows Cemetery is a peaceful historic cemetery on the western edge of town. Established in 1865 by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, its 38 acres reflect the Victorian garden-cemetery tradition: a deliberately landscaped setting designed for remembrance, reflection, and walking as much as for burial. Mature trees, gently rolling lanes, formal monuments, and family plots create a park-like setting that invites visitors to slow down and notice Tamaqua’s social and architectural history. Visitors can also enjoy a panoramic view of downtown Tamaqua from the cemetery’s highest hilltop.

Victorian garden cemeteries developed in the 19th century, when communities began creating spacious burial grounds beyond crowded town centers. These places used naturalistic landscapes, ornamental plantings, broad drives, and expressive memorial sculpture to encourage visits with loved ones. Many family members would bring picnics to enjoy by the gravesite. At Odd Fellows, monuments and inscriptions record the lives of coal-region families, civic leaders, and veterans; the Soldier’s Circle and Civil War memorials are particularly notable.

One of the cemetery’s most compelling stories is that of Simon Jefferson, a Tamaqua barber and one of the town’s earliest known Black residents. Jefferson claimed that John Wilkes Booth, whom he knew through the barbershop, told him of plans to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. Jefferson later said he warned local authorities and even traveled to Washington, D.C., hoping to alert Lincoln, but his warnings were dismissed. He died in 1886 and is buried in Odd Fellows, though his grave remains unmarked.

.4 miles from Bischoff Inn

503 W Broad St, Tamaqua, PA 18252

(570) 668 2070

7 days a week, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm