The Gatehouse and Bell Tower
Bohemian National Cemetery's gatehouse is the cemetery's best known structure. The gatehouse we see today was built in a Gothic Revival style.
The similarity with Chicago's Watertower might make you think the two were built at the same time prior to the 1871 fire but they were not.
When the Bohemian National Cemetery Association was founded in 1877, the members were advised by their lawyer to erect a gate and sign to ward off more trouble from the town of Jefferson. Jefferson had opposed the cemetery and was attempting to stop it by legal action.
The first gate was a wooden fence and a sign.
In 1878 the BNCA was able to erect a gatehouse with a bell tower.
The 1878 gatehouse
This original gatehouse was replaced in 1893 by the current gothic revival structure designed by Jan Krivanek.
The 1893 gatehouse
A 1907 addition designed by Anton Rusy, added men's and women's waiting rooms and restrooms.
1907 additions from rear
John Anton Mallin planned and supervised the interior decoration.
The gatehouse continues to be the entrance and the public's introduction to the cemetery.
