The Best Reason to Visit Cleveland? To See a Dead Man
I came to Cleveland to see a dead man.
Not just any dead man, but a dead man whose gruesome death left America shaken and unsure of its new place as a stable world power—and a dead man who has probably not crossed your mind more than once or twice.
On a grassy rise in Lake View Cemetery (a macabre carnival of sorts for the history nerd) an odd Victorian Gothic tower appears, crowned by a spire. I say odd not because it’s misshapen, but because while there are certainly any number of spectacular mausoleums in this scenic 285-acre expanse, this sandstone folly is more something one would expect to find in a country estate designed by H. H. Richardson. For those curious enough to venture in, it contains an outrageously over-the-top memorial and tomb filled with Murano glass mosaics, expensive marble, and lofty architectural details befitting a conquering European monarch à la Napoleon or the fatuous “grand” duke Medici.