Laid out in 1857, the cemetery was designed to reflect the rural cemetery movement begun at Cambridge's Mount Auburn Cemetery. It was the first such cemetery in Brookline.[2] The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.[1] Most of the cemetery has the layout typical of rural cemeteries, with winding lanes and attractive landscaping. One section, known as the "German Acre" and located near the entrance, has a more traditional rectilinear form; it was laid out for a congregation of predominantly German Catholics. The cemetery chapel, built 1859–62, is set on a hill near its center, and was designed by Patrick Keely, an architect of Catholic churches. It is a Gothic Revival structure, built out of puddingstone.[3]