Every Saturday and Sunday from May - October
Saturday tours begin at 1:00 PM
Sunday Tours begin at 2:00 PM and 2:30 PM
Tours start at the North Gate House (opposite Robinson Drive).
Free refreshments following the tour.
These tours are free to the public.
Twilight Tours
Thursdays 7:00 PM
May 15 through August 7
**$4.00 / person members/free
Visit the high spots of the weekend tours & many sites never included on the public tours
Tours start at North Gate House with free refreshments following the tour.
Scroll down for Theme Tour information:
May 10, 2008 - Saturday at 12 PM
The south half of Mount Hope developed after the Civil War and represents a different cemetery model from the earlier “Rural Cemetery” model of the north half. Includes Industrialists, war heroes, and many surprises.
Meet at the Cemetery Office (opposite the Distillery).
Free refreshments following the tour
$4.00/person; free for Members
May 31, 2008 - Saturday at 12 PM
The history of East Avenue, its development, the houses and their architects, and the residents.
Meet at North Gate House (opposite Robinson Drive)
Free refreshments following the tour
$4.00/person; free for Members
June 1, 2008 - Sunday at 1:00 PM
Explore the enormous contribution of Rochester’s Jewish community.
Focusing primarily on the German Jews, the first Jewish settlers in Rochester, the tour will visit several Jewish plots and reflect on the immigrant experience – the struggle between the maintenance of religious traditions and the desire to assimilate – as expressed in the lives of individuals interred in Mount Hope during three different time periods. Grave sites on the tour include:
Morris Seligman (1819–1890) was a clothing merchant and probably the first Jewish Mason in Rochester. He didn’t live long enough to see his granddaughters, Miriam and Julia Seligman, enter the University of Rochester with the first small group of women students in 1900.
Alfred Hart (1878–1936) developed the successful Hart chain of one hundred stores from a small low-overhead, self-service grocery. He was a prominent member of Temple Beth El and a generous community philanthropist.
Joel Bloom (1963–1996), renowned for his beautiful, melodic voice, was a cantorial assistant at Temple Sinai. His memorial stone features an engraving of musical notes.
Meet at the Cemetery Office (opposite the Distillery).
Free refreshments following the tour
$4.00/person; free for Members
June 13, 2008 - Friday at 7 PM
Something very different for Friday the 13th.
Meet at North Gate House (opposite Robinson Drive)
Free refreshments following the tour
$4.00/person; free for Members
June 14, 2008 - Saturday at 10 AM
Visit interesting monuments designed by artists and the grave sites of famous artists.
Meet at the North Gate House (opposite Robinson Drive).
Free refreshments following the tour
$4.00/person; free for Members
June 28, 2008 - Saturday at 12 PM
Includes the family plots of those important to the brewery business in Rochester, including the recently restored Rau Mausoleum.
Meet at North Gate House (opposite Robinson Drive)
Free refreshments following the tour
$4.00/person; free for Members
July 12, 2008 - Saturday at 11 AM
Mount Hope’s Section G
A tour entirely in a single section of Mount Hope, Section G includes many of the most influential Rochesterians of the 19th century.
Meet at North Gate House (opposite Robinson Drive)
Free refreshments following the tour
$4.00/person; free for Members
August 2, 2008 - Saturday at 1:30 PM
The Civil War as told against the backdrop of Mount Hope Cemetery, the burial place of many Civil War veterans. Marilyn Nolte focuses on local involvement.
Meet at the North Gate House (opposite Robinson Drive).
Free refreshments following the tour
$4.00/person; free for Members
August 9, 2008 - Saturday at 1:30 PM
A celebration of 200 years of ice cream, and Rochester contributions to the world of ice cream.
Free Ice Cream, provided by I Scream of Mt Hope Plaza will be served following the tours.
Meet at the Cemetery Office (opposite the Distillery).
$4.00/person; free for Members
September 13, 2008 - Saturday at 12 PM
Revealing the Past
Rochester’s Mount Hope Cemetery contains thousands of gravestones whose images and words speak to us today. Their symbols and inscriptions express views of life, death, and immortality, and this tour examines funerary iconography and epigraphy in terms of their function of forging symbolic connections among the living and the dead. Particular attention will be given to religious images and themes found on a number of gravestones and monuments, including those of George Ellwanger, William Rossiter Seward, Frederick Roth, stones in the Temples Beth Kodesh and Beth El, and many others. Your guide is Emil Homerin, Professor of Religion and Classics at the University of Rochester.
Meet at the North Gate House (opposite Robinson Drive).
Free refreshments following the tour
$4.00/person; free for Members
September 20, 2008 - Saturday at 12 PM
The American Revolution told through the stories of its veterans, including action in western New York.
Meet at North Gate House (opposite Robinson Drive)
Free refreshments following the tour
$4.00/person; free for Members
September 27, 2008 - Saturday at 12 PM
The Really Ancient History
Explore the very ancient natural history of Mount Hope with Bill Chaisson, adjunct professor of Geology at the University of Rochester. Bill takes us from mythological ideas about the formation of the earth’s surface to the major scientific discoveries that ascertained the existence of massive global glaciers that created the interesting landscape of Mount Hope and the surrounding area. A great primer on the eskers, kettles, kames and other geologic features that form Mount Hope and our region.
Meet at the North Gate House (opposite Robinson Drive).
Free refreshments following the tour.
$4.00/person; free for Members
October 25, 2008 - Saturday at 11 AM
Enjoy the variety and beauty of Mount Hope's trees in autumn with landscape architect Ed Olinger.
Meet at the North Gate House (opposite Robinson Drive).
Free refreshments following the tour
$4.00/person; free for Members
Just after dark almost 1000 luminaria will illuminate a tour path through the oldest part of the cemetery as guides equipped with powerful searchlights point out notable features along the tour route. This beautiful, candle-lit event will close the tour season at Mount Hope.
The tour will begin at 6:30 PM from the North Gatehouse, 791 Mt. Hope Ave., (opposite Robinson Drive) and last approximately 1-1/2 hours. Tour groups will leave the gatehouse every 10 minutes until everyone has been accomodated.
$4.00/person; free for Members.
Just after dark almost 1000 luminaria will illuminate a tour path through the oldest part of the cemetery as guides equipped with powerful searchlights point out notable features along the tour route. This beautiful, candle-lit event will close the tour season at Mount Hope.
The tour will begin at 7:00 PM from the North Gatehouse, 791 Mt. Hope Ave., (opposite Robinson Drive) and last approximately 1-1/2 hours. Tour groups will leave the gatehouse every 10 minutes until everyone has been accomodated.
$4.00/person; free for Members.