The mausoleum in the Lehighton cemetery was built during dire economic times.

Despite the Great Depression, 141 of the crypts in the large block building were sold even before construction began in 1930, according to Lamont “Mike” Ebbert, Lehighton historian.Today, only two of the crypts are empty, but none have been available for purchase for many years.The space has evolved, with the Lehighton Cemetery Board making room for additional remains, with niches installed for cremation ashes.Henry Long, superintendent of the cemetery, said with the increase in cremations, the niches will be sold quickly.Long said there’s a 50-50 ratio of people who get cremated versus those who are buried in plots.The mausoleum was constructed by a private firm, the Community Mausoleum Corporation.The pre-sale of the crypts gave the Mausoleum Corporation enough money to build the structure, a building that today would likely cost millions of dollars to erect.Another local historian, Gordon B. Ripkey, displayed a certificate from 1931 in which E.A. Smith paid $850 for a crypt in the mausoleum.The Mausoleum Corporation paid the cemetery $1,720 for the land that would be used for the mausoleum.The owner of the mausoleum died in 1935. As a result, his family offered the building to the cemetery for $4,200. At that time, Ebbert said, the remaining crypts were sold for $325 to $425, depending on location.Ripkey, a member of the cemetery board, said Lehighton businessman George Freeby bought 10 crypts for his family and relatives. Freeby owned the former Progressive Merchants firm that was located along what today is Sgt. Stanley Hoffman Boulevard (Route 209).In 1946, the Gerstlauer family, which had a large milk processing business, purchased a niche in the mausoleum for an urn and ashes. He paid $50 for the niche.Ripkey said niches for cremation remains are still available today. There are two towers of niches to display urns containing remains.The mausoleum has spotless white walls with a large stained glass window on its north and south sides.Although most of the people whose remains lie in the crypts died decades ago, Ripkey pointed out that it is obvious by the flowers placed at the crypts that many of the grave sites are still visited.The crypt will be open to the public during a Living History Cemetery Walk at 7 p.m. on Sunday. The crypt will only be open while good visibility from daylight exists.A copy of a crypt ownership certificate, issued by the Community Mausoleum Company, included a directive indicative of the time period, stating that only “the human dead of the white race” can use the crypts.