Stroll through history: Guided tours return to Woodland Cemetery

Guided tours through Dayton’s past have returned at Woodland Cemetery & Arboretum.

This year the tours, led by volunteers, will take place in the evening from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. The cemetery is located at 118 Woodland Ave. in Dayton.

During the summer, guides will escort groups on a variety of Dayton history tours as well as a tour about trees in the arboretum.

“It’s always fun to have a guide so you can come in and relax,” said Angie Hoschouer, manager of development and marketing at the cemetery. “The tour guides know where everything is.”

Woodland Cemetery was founded in 1841 and is one of the nation’s five oldest rural garden cemeteries. There are more than 3,000 trees and 165 specimens of native Midwestern woody plants throughout the arboretum’s 200 acres.

Advanced registration is required and tours will be limited to 15 people. Each tour is $5 with proceeds benefitting the Woodland Arboretum Foundation.

Credit: Amelia Robinson

Credit: Amelia Robinson

Visitors on the historic tours will learn about the Gem City’s founders, innovators and inventors on the Woodland Historic Tour, Luminaries of Dayton Tour or the Dayton’s Walk of Fame Tour.

Famed aviators Orville and Wilbur Wright, poet Paul Laurence Dunbar and writer Erma Bombeck are buried in the cemetery along with other notable Daytonians with engaging stories.

Stroll through the Let’s Talk Trees Arboretum Tour, led by Kay Linden, and learn about the 140 species of trees throughout the acreage.

Information and registration for the tours can be found here.

A selection of self-guided walking tours is also available and can be found here.

Credit: Chris Stewart

Credit: Chris Stewart

In addition, a headstone cleaning and restoration class will return to the cemetery Saturday, Sept. 16 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The workshop will be led by gravestone restoration expert Misti Spillman who will teach a hands-on class in techniques to fix breaks, reset and clean headstones.

The class costs $30 and includes a starter kit that has all the tools needed for the day.

More information and registration can be found here.

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