The Independent Order of Odd Fellows established Mt. Washington Cemetery in 1855.  Members of the organization took a vow "to visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan."  Early Odd Fellows took burying the dead very seriously, and most lodges purchased land and established cemeteries as one of their first activities in a new town or city.

When the cemetery was first established, there was an entrance on what is now Beechmont Avenue.  The entire road that ran from that entrance through the cemetery was lined with ash trees, making a stunning canopy over the path.  Those incredible trees stood in the cemetery for 159 years before they all succumbed to the emerald ash borer, a devastating loss to the cemetery’s arboretum.  The emerald ash borer caused the loss of several other ashes in the cemetery that were approximately 180 years old, as we determined by counting the rings of the stumps.

The vast majority of the 57 species of trees in Mt. Washington Cemetery have been planted in the past thirty years. The Eastern Red Cedars are some of the oldest and most spectacular in Cincinnati.  The goal at Mt. Washington Cemetery is to continue to plant trees every year, expanding their numbers and variety, particularly with an eye toward improving wildlife habitat.