Entry No. 89 — the Chicago file — filed under: weird-monument

George Bangs Tree-Trunk Grave, Rosehill Cemetery

A tombstone carved as a dead tree trunk crawling with sculpted birds and animals, with a tiny stone railway mail car frozen mid-entry into a tunnel at its base — a Victorian memorial to George S. Bangs, the U.S. Mail railway superintendent who invented the "Fast Mail" system, epitaph carved in: "His crowning effort: The Fast Mail."

The move: Enter the gates, turn right past the parking lot, left at the next road, and hunt down the tree-trunk grave among Rosehill's other Modern-Woodmen tree-stump markers.

• 📍 Ravenswood
• 💸 Free
• ⚡ Up for anything
• 🌗 Outdoors

Where: 5800 N. Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60660

Hours: Added 2026-07-19 — confirm current hours before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Further reading: Roadside America · Wikipedia

last checked: 2026-07-19