American Monument& Granite Co.
(330) 325-2500
American Monument& Granite Co.
(330) 325-2500
The largest cemetery in Kent, on North Mantua Street since 1857, and the ground where a jobbing English gardener named John Davey worked out the tree care that became the Davey Tree Expert Company. What it is, who to call, and what we do there.
Franklin Township trustees bought five acres from Roland Dewey for four hundred dollars on October 25, 1857. The ground was surveyed and the lots went on sale in 1859, which is the year of the first burials. Everything since has grown outward from that original five acres.
The man who made it look the way it does was John Davey. He came from England, he was Standing Rock’s first sexton, and he arrived in 1881 to a burial ground that had been let go. The City of Kent’s own account is that his plantings and his design turned it into a cemetery of beauty. What he was really doing was working out how to keep trees alive, and in 1909 that became the Davey Tree Expert Company, which is still headquartered in Kent. The trees in the older sections are the argument he was making.
The chapel went up in 1924. It is the cemetery office now, which is where to start if you need a plot, a section, a record, or permission for anything.
Founding dates, the Davey history, the chapel, and the decoration dates further down are from the City of Kent’s cemeteries page, checked 2026-08-31. The cemetery office is the authority on anything current, and its number is above.
If you are looking for a grave in Kent and cannot find it, this is usually why. Three older burial grounds are tied to Standing Rock, and two of them no longer exist where they started.
Dedicated by the church in 1859, the same year Standing Rock sold its first lots. Standing Rock acquired it in 1963 and the two have been run together since, out of the same office. For records or a plot in St. Patrick, you are calling Standing Rock.
It stood on Rhodes Road. In the 1970s the remains were moved to the northeastern corner of Standing Rock to make way for commercial development. So a Breakneck burial is a Standing Rock burial now, in a specific corner of the grounds, and the office can point you to it.
Kent’s oldest ground, at the entrance to Fred Fuller Park on Stow Street, deeded by the Haymaker family and dating to 1810. We cut the monument standing there that marks the first burial and the town’s bicentennial. The story of that stone is on our Kent page.
Families are caught out by this every year, so it is worth knowing before you leave something you would be sorry to lose. The City of Kent states three dates for Standing Rock:
If something matters to you, take it home before those dates rather than hoping. And if you are unsure whether a particular thing is permitted at all, the office will tell you in a minute on the phone.
Quoted from the City of Kent’s cemeteries page, checked 2026-08-31. Dates and practice can change, and the cemetery office on 330-673-3859 is the authority, not this page.
We are a monument shop in Ravenna, a short drive east, and we work in every cemetery in Portage, Summit, and Stark Counties. Standing Rock is one of them. The granite is cut, lettered, and finished by hand in our own shop, and the people who set it at the grave are the people who made it.
We do not publish what Standing Rock allows, because the cemetery sets that and it can differ by section. What we do instead is ask, before you have chosen anything. Whether an upright is permitted where they are buried, what the base has to be, how the foundation is to be poured and by whom. If the memorial you have in mind is not allowed there, you will hear it from us early, while changing your mind is still free.
We handle the permit, the foundation, and the setting. If you would rather see granite in daylight than on a screen, the showroom in Ravenna is a short drive and there is no obligation attached to walking in.
The traditional standing headstone, for one name or two, or a family monument carrying several. Shape, granite color, carving, and etching are all decided with you.
Slant, bevel, and flush markers, including bronze. Some cemetery sections permit nothing else, which is worth knowing before you fall for an upright.
Solid granite benches, engraved. A place to sit at the grave rather than stand at it, and increasingly what families ask for.
Urn-ready stones and memorials for cremation gardens, single or companion, for families who chose cremation and still want somewhere to go.
Adding a second date to a stone already standing, straightening one that has leaned or sunk, and cleaning older granite and marble properly. Read how to clean a headstone before you try it yourself, because the older sections here hold marble and it is easy to ruin.
Start with what to say rather than what to buy. Our guide to what to write on a headstone covers names, dates, epitaphs, and emblems, and granite colors explains which stone suits which kind of lettering.
1361 N. Mantua St., Kent, Ohio 44240, on the north side of the city in Franklin Township. The cemetery office is in the 1924 chapel on the grounds and the number is 330-673-3859.
Franklin Township trustees bought the first five acres from Roland Dewey for four hundred dollars on October 25, 1857. The ground was surveyed and lots were sold in 1859, which is the year of the first burials there.
John Davey, an Englishman who later founded the Davey Tree Expert Company in 1909, was the cemetery’s first sexton and arrived in 1881. The City of Kent credits his plantings and his design with turning the grounds into a cemetery of beauty. The tree work he developed there became the basis of the company, which is still headquartered in Kent.
Yes. St. Patrick was dedicated by the church in 1859 and Standing Rock acquired it in 1963. The two have been operated together since. The remains from Breakneck Cemetery, which stood on Rhodes Road, were moved to the northeastern corner of Standing Rock in the 1970s.
The cemetery sets that, and it can differ by section, so the answer has to come from the cemetery office rather than from us or from a website. Call them on 330-673-3859, or tell us the section and we will ask on your behalf before you choose anything. We would rather find out first than have you fall for a memorial you are not permitted to set.
The City of Kent states that holiday decorations are removed the first week in April, that flags are removed in May, and that new flags are placed the Thursday before Memorial Day. Confirm current dates with the cemetery office before you leave anything you want to keep.
Yes. Adding a second date or a further inscription to a monument already set is ordinary work, and it is done at the cemetery rather than by taking the stone away. It is one of the more common jobs we are called for.
When you’re ready, our family is here to help yours, with patience, care, and no obligation.
Start Their Memorial →