āThis is a new and finely located āplace for the dead,āā The Iris reported in 1846. Early plans included a chapel and a residence for a cemetery superintendent. Lots were priced at the āextremely moderateā cost of $5 for an 8ā by 10ā area.
Just three years later, in December 1849, the Maryland Assembly passed "An Act to Establish the Western Cemetery" allowing the Trustees of the Fayette Street Methodist Episcopal Church to open a "public" or nondenominational 55-acre cemetery west of the city in »Ź¹ŚĢåÓżapp County. Like Green Mount Cemetery, Western tried to create a park-like open space for visitors to stroll as well as greive.
Early burials at the cemetery included both city and county residents from a range of backgrounds. In 1858, theĀ SunĀ reported on the burial of William Fairbank, a »Ź¹ŚĢåÓżapp County resident who worked as a conductor on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad between 1830 and 1850 and as the keeper of the bridge on the Baltimore and Washington Turnpike. In the fall of 1861, a number of Union soldiers stationed in Baltimore, likely including soldiers recovering from injuries taken at the Battle of Bull Run (or First Manassas) in July 1861, died from typhoid fever and were interred at the Western Cemetery.
In 1915, »Ź¹ŚĢåÓżapp City acquired a portion of the cemetery property for the construction of Ellicott Driveway. This required the closure of the āthe railroad crossing at the Cemetery lane entrance to Western Cemeteryā and an agreement between »Ź¹ŚĢåÓżapp City, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, and the officers of the cemetery company.
The cemetery continued toĀ serve asĀ a popular place of internment for military veterans and police officers during the 20thĀ century.Ā In July 1926, the Sun reported on a huge crowd of āseveral thousand personsā who attended the burial of Patrolman Webster E. Schumann, noting, āA full firing squad of eight men from Camp Meade fired three volleys into the air and a bugler sounded ātapsā as the services for the war veteran ended.ā
After World War II, the cemetery, along with nearby Leakin Park, took center stage in West Baltimoreās highway fights. Relatives of the interred joined forces with environmental activists and local residents in opposing the extension of a proposed highway through Leakin Park and into the city.Ā Fortunately,Ā Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro responded to this effort and, in 1969, encouraged state highway designers to consider a new route for the Rosemont section of the East-West Expressway to bypass Western Cemetery.
Organized in 1875 by Samuel H. Cummings at Gilmore and Mulberry Streets, the Harlem Park Methodist Episcopal Church relocated to Harlem Park in 1880 under the leadership of John F. Goucher. The church constructed a new building in 1906 under the leadership of Rev. E.L. Watson and then moved again to Harlem Avenue and Warwick Avenue under the leadership of Rev. E.P. Fellenbaum. The new building was described:
āGothic in design, with an auditorium seating 800 persons. In addition, there will be an educational building, equipped with 10 rooms for Sunday-school work. In the basement will be a social hall. A recreation room with bowling alleys and a lecture room that may be converted into a gymnasium also are planned.ā
At a mortgage burning ceremony in 1947, Fellenbaum recalled that some criticized the project, and the $100,000 mortgage, as āFellenbaumās Folly.ā The congregation laid the cornerstone for the new building at 4:00 PM on May 2, 1925. The Harlem Park Methodist Episcopal Church was dedicated at 3:00 PM on November 21, 1926 with Bishop William Fraser McDowell officiating.
In May 1953, the Harlem Park Methodist Church merged with the Grove Methodist Chapel, erected in 1857 on Johnnycake Road in »Ź¹ŚĢåÓżapp County, to form the Wesley Memorial Methodist Church in Catonsville, Maryland. Their building was offered for sale at $210,000. Bishop E.A. Love of the Washington Conference appointed the Reverend N.B. Carrington as the leader of the Union Memorial United Methodist Church and assisted in securing help from the Washington and »Ź¹ŚĢåÓżapp Conferences and the Board of Missions to purchase the property.
The church had previously moved from Pine and Franklin Streets to North and Madison Avenues in 1951 and had fewer than 100 members when it moved to Harlem Avenue in 1953. By the time of Rev. Carringtonās retirement in 1961, however, the church had grown to over 600 members. Carrigton began pastoring at Union Memorial United Methodist in 1952, and also worked as the supervisor of the AFROās pressroom. He later commented, āI married, baptized and buried many of them down there ā matter of fact they call me the AFROās chaplain.ā Commenting on the success of the church in paying off the buildingās $225,000 mortgage in 8 years, Carrington noted, āThose are the kind of people we have in our congregation. They wanted to get it out of the way and they worked hard to do it.ā