Chestnut Street Jewish Cemetery in Downtown Cincinnati, Ohio

There’s a unique Jewish cemetery in Cincinnati that is tucked into a corner of the downtown urban landscape. It’s affectionately known for being the oldest Jewish cemetery west of the Allegheny Mountains. Its consecration in 1821 is considered to be the first communal act that formally established the Jewish community in the area. There were only six Jewish families in Cincinnati at the time.

My familiarity with the Chestnut Street Cemetery came from living within two blocks of it for well over a decade. It was surrounded on three sides by historic brick walls and a rusty chain-link fence on the fourth side. I walked by often and quickly decided to declare war on the fence. It didn’t match the sanctity of the site and had to go.

I wrote to the director of the organization that managed the site every few years about the need to make improvements and potential fundraising partnerships to replace the chain-link fence. The correspondence resulted in some minor repairs to the brick wall. But there wasn’t any momentum on larger aesthetic upgrades.

After about eight years of failures, I made my periodic call and discovered a new director who was eager to talk to me. There was renewed interest in the cemetery as it was approaching its bicentennial. We talked about some of the needed improvements to the site. It was mentioned to me that the scope would be limited due to their organization not owning the green space in front of the chain-link fence.

In a fortuitous twist of fate, I was a board officer for the nonprofit historic district that owned the land. I offered my assistance to help facilitate a transfer of the deed to expand the scope of a capital project. We quickly started discussing new opportunities that this could create, like an educational courtyard in front of the site. I joined their board committee for the site, and we got to work.

The significance (and beauty) of our capital improvement initiative started to draw attention. Jewish Federation of Cincinnati got involved and decided to create a spectacular Jewish Cincinnati Bicentennial event. Their website explained: “2021 marks the 200th anniversary of Jewish community life in the city of Cincinnati, which formally began with the founding of Chestnut Street Cemetery. The Jewish community and the City of Cincinnati will commemorate this significant milestone through community celebrations, multi-generational programs, and interactive experiences.”

Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati perfectly executed the fundraising campaign, design work, and construction for our project. Jewish Federation of Cincinnati orchestrated an amazing bicentennial event for the entire city that even included a Matisyahu concert a few blocks from the cemetery. If you didn’t know, the Jewish community and its history in Cincinnati are quite special.

I still smile with joy every single time I walk by the new fence and educational courtyard.

The Bicentennial Rededication

At the 2021 rededication of Chestnut Street Cemetery and dedication of the new educational plaza, Noah O’Brien spoke about the significance of the site and its place in Cincinnati Jewish history.