Group Visits

We offer a variety of tours to give community members an opportunity to learn about Mount Hope Cemetery.

SCHOOL GROUPS – Guided walking tours led by FOMH tour guides are available for all students from grades 4-12 at no cost. This includes home-schooled children.

Guidelines for School Groups

Dear Teacher or Youth Leader:

The Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery offer you an outstanding opportunity to integrate your instructional objectives with a field trip experience to reinforce classroom instruction in grades 4 through 12.

You need to let us know what the academic purpose of your visit is. We can support tours focused on Abolition, Women's Suffrage, Civil War and 19th and 20th century Rochester historical figures. Many teachers use Mount Hope to discuss architecture, symbolism, customs of death, geology, and more. Once we know your academic goals, we will be able to fashion an interesting tour for your students based on their age levels and academic experiences.
Our tours last from one and a half to two hours. Our docents are experienced and excited to share their knowledge of the cemetery with your students.
We encourage your students to be active participants. For example, if they have done research on a particular topic, we welcome their participation.
Many teachers bring parents with the group. Parents are valuable resources, and their enthusiasm is contagious.

What a Tour of Mount Hope Cemetery is NOT:

A tour of Mount Hope is not a good choice for school groups that have not yet studied New York State history.
A tour of Mount Hope is not a good choice for an end of the year or Halloween field trip.
Because Mount Hope is a working cemetery, this tour is not a trip for students who cannot be attentive and respectful.
Talking, texting, or playing games on phones are inappropriate during the tour.

ORGANIZATIONS – Guided tours are available for businesses, garden clubs, historical societies and social groups. We request a minimum of 10 participants at $15 each, or a minimum fee of $125. Please make reservations at least three weeks in advance.

PRIVATE GROUPS – Tours for families or friends are also available. Please make reservations at least three weeks in advance. Contact us for information about fees.

VAN TOURS – Guide tours for a group wishing to tour in a van, rather than take a walking tour, are available for a fee of $100 per van. Please note: The group must provide the van.

COMMERCIAL BUS TOURS – Guided tours by knowledgeable and experienced tour guides are available to groups of twenty or more. Please see our guidelines to schedule a tour.

Sign Language interpretation for tours provided on request. Please contact us to submit a request at least 14 days in advance of the tour. Private tours with an ASL fluent guide can also be arranged.

Be Respectful We invite you to enjoy our magnificent cemetery. It is a place of majestic trees, abundant wildlife, historic buildings, and thousands of monuments and memorials.

As you walk or drive through our 196 acres, keep in mind that every stone represents an individual's life, filled with joy and sorrow, success and failure, love and anger; all the unique attributes that make us human. Death has taken them, but they are with us still as long as they remain in our collective memory. A cemetery reflects the honor, respect, and devotion that our civilized society accords its dead. It is a place of memories – a place to reflect on the past, contemplate the present, and consider the future.

Mount Hope is an active cemetery. Those you see within the cemetery grounds may need solitude, quiet, and the peaceful surrounding afforded by a cemetery. It is well that each of us respects an individual's need to honor and mourn those for whom they held a true affection.

Group Visits

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