Explore Our History - Mt. Sinai Cemetery

Learn more about the cemetery – a Jewish institution in Philadelphia since 1853

Mt. Sinai Cemetery has played an integral role in Jewish life in Philadelphia for some 175 years and is one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries still in active existence in Philadelphia. Explore some of our notable events below.

In July 1853, an ad hoc committee of Philadelphia’s prominent Jewish leaders agreed to buy seven acres of land in the Frankford section of Philadelphia. The purchase was completed in August 1853, and The Mount Sinai Cemetery Association of Pennsylvania was formally registered in June 1854. The Preamble of the original charter states that “…we should prepare proper and suitable places for the burial an repose of our kindred when they shall have departed this life: places, where love friendship and pious enthusiasm may find expression in the embellishment of the tomb; places, to which, from the busy throng, we may turn aside and meditate in silence over the grave…”

Conceived in the tradition of 19th century cemeteries, which sought to give families a peaceful place to commune with their departed, Mt. Sinai’s design included broad paved paths, attractive plantings, and open spaces.

Learn more about architecture and design at Mt. Sinai

The 1858 opening of a horse-drawn carriage line from center city to Frankford—replaced in 1863 by a steam railroad, and in 1907, by the Frankford El—made it easy for mourners to get to the cemetery. (Today, visitors can travel from center city to the cemetery in ~20 minutes via Interstate 95, traffic permitting).

The cemetery quickly gained favor among the city’s most prominent Jewish businesspeople, entrepreneurs, real estate mavens, and media moguls, and philanthropists, including the Snellenburg, Gimbel, Lit, Fels, Paley, Binswanger, Solis-Cohen, Publicker, Rosenbach, and Fleischer families, among others.

Discover the notable families’ histories and contributions

Mt. Sinai features impressive mausoleums as well as magnificent headstones and memorials appearing throughout the grounds.

The Frank Furness-designed chapel and mortuary was added in 1892.The mortuary featured gleaming white tiles on the floor and walls that could be easily disinfected—reflecting the era’s most advanced ideas for preventing sepsis and the spread of disease.

The cemetery more than doubled its size in the years 1910-1920—adding 10.5 acres to the initial 7 acres purchased in 1853.

The Tranquility Garden was established in 2021-2022 to accommodate those seeking green and natural burial options.

See the slideshow

Officers of the Cemetery

President: David A. Blumenthal

Vice President: Stephen Schachman, Esq.

Secretary: Judith Hahn Kramer