Local actors will step into the roles of Civil War soldiers, former mayors and a Major League Baseball player at the Park Ridge Historical Society's Spirits of Old Park Ridge Cemetery Walk on Saturday, Sept. 12, at Town of Maine Cemetery.
The ticketed walking tour runs from 1 to 4 p.m. at the 21-acre cemetery at 2101 W. Touhy Ave. Guided groups will depart every 15 to 30 minutes from the cemetery gatehouse, just inside the main gate off Touhy Avenue, with each tour lasting about an hour.
At each gravesite, costumed performers will portray the historical figures buried there. The named cast includes Milton Meyers, a Civil War soldier; Alexander Harley, the first music director at Maine High School; Robert Hale, a professional baseball player and retired District 64 administrator; and Albert Buchheit, Park Ridge's first mayor, elected in 1910.
Hale played first base and pinch-hit for the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees before settling in Park Ridge, where he died in 2012 at age 78.
The cemetery itself is a piece of history. Chartered in 1858, it is the second oldest in Cook County, with the oldest headstone dating to 1811, before Illinois became a state. At least six Park Ridge mayors are buried on the grounds. The gatehouse where tours begin was designed by Alfonso Iannelli, the same artist behind the interior of the Pickwick Theater and the signs of the Zodiac at the Adler Planetarium. Iannelli lived in Park Ridge and is buried in the cemetery.
The Historical Society said the event is open to all ages and offers a chance to learn about the men and women who shaped Park Ridge's development, according to its event announcement. The walk is a recurring event, with previous editions in 2018, 2023 and 2025.
Admission: Adults $10 / Students $5 / Families $20 / Under 5 free. Parking is available along Rose Avenue to the east or along the cemetery's internal lanes.
Upcoming community events:
- Saturday, Sept. 12, 1–4 p.m. — Spirits of Old Park Ridge Cemetery Walk, Town of Maine Cemetery
- Park Ridge Historical Society programs continue at the History Center, 721 N. Prospect Ave.
