In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and elsewhere, a pioneer cemetery is a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

that is the burial place for pioneers.

American pioneers American pioneers were European American and African American settlers who migrated westward from the Thirteen Colonies and later United States to settle in and develop areas of North America that had previously been inhabited or used by Nati ...

founded such cemeteries during

territorial expansion of the United States The United States of America was created on July 4, 1776, with the U.S. Declaration of Independence of thirteen British colonies in North America. In the Lee Resolution two days prior, the colonies resolved that they were free and independent ...

, with founding dates spanning, at least, from the late 18th to early 20th centuries. A number of these have been officially designated as

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

s worthy of preservation, including at least 10 listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

(NRHP).

Definitions

The State of

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

defines "pioneer cemetery" as "a cemetery where twelve or fewer burials have taken place in the past 50 years". The State of

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

defines an "abandoned or neglected pioneer cemetery" as having been founded or situated upon land that "was given, granted, donated, sold, or deeded to the founders of the cemetery prior to January 1, 1900", and that "contains the grave or graves of a person or persons who were homesteaders, immigrants from a foreign nation, prairie farmers, pioneers,

sodbusters Sodbuster was a program created by Title 12 of the Food Security Act of 1985 The Food Security Act of 1985 (P.L. 99–198, also known as the 1985 U.S. Farm Bill), a 5-year omnibus farm bill, allowed lower commodity price and income supports and ...

, first generation Nebraskans, or

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

veterans". The

State of Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

defines a "pioneer cemetery" as "any burial place that contains the remains of one or more persons who died before February 14, 1909", which is the 50th anniversary of Oregon's statehood.

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

recognizes that pioneer cemeteries may have become the responsibility of a public cemetery district or may be dedicated by the city or county as a pioneer memorial park if no longer maintained. The law also authorizes the "removal of such copings, improvements, and embellishments which the governing board finds to be a threat or danger to the health, safety, comfort, or welfare of the public."

List of pioneer cemeteries

Dates are of official founding or earliest known burial.

Australia

* Memorial Park Cemetery (1836),

Albany, Western Australia Albany ( ; nys, Kinjarling) is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a ...

; also known as Pioneer Cemetery

Canada

* Buxton Pioneer Cemetery (1859–2015),

Chatham-Kent Chatham-Kent ( 2021 population: 104,316)Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and ...

, Vancouver, British Columbia * St. Mary's Pioneer Cemetery (1876), Calgary, Alberta * Whitehorse Pioneer Cemetery (1900)

United States

Arizona

* Adamsville A.O.U.W. Cemetery (1894), Pinal County *

Double Butte Cemetery The Double Butte Cemetery is the official name given to a historic cemetery in Tempe, Arizona. The cemetery was founded in 1888 on the baseline of the Double Butte Mountain for which it is named. It is the final resting place of various notable pi ...

(1888), Tempe; whose pioneer section is NRHP-listed * Fry Pioneer Cemetery (1919), Sierra Vista; NRHP-listed in Cochise County * Henry Wickenburg Pioneer Cemetery (1902), Wickenburg; NRHP-listed in Maricopa County *

Hardyville Cemetery The Hardyville Cemetery, also known as the Hardyville Pioneer Cemetery, at 1776 Arizona State Route 95 in Bullhead City, Arizona, is a historic cemetery that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. – It is the only surviving ...

(c. 1867), Bullhead City *

Pioneer and Military Memorial Park The Pioneer and Military Memorial Park is the official name given to seven historic cemeteries in Phoenix, Arizona. The cemeteries were founded in 1884 in what was known as "Block 32". On February 1, 2007, "Block 32" was renamed Pioneer and Milita ...

(1871),

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

* Evergreen Cemetery (c. 1912), Bisbee *

Pioneer Cemetery In the United States, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere, a pioneer cemetery is a cemetery that is the burial place for pioneers. American pioneers founded such cemeteries during territorial expansion of the United States, with founding dates spa ...

, Bisbee

Arkansas

* Palarm Bayou Pioneer Cemetery (c. 1837), Morgan, Arkansas, NRHP-listed

California

* Centerville Pioneer Cemetery (1850s), Fremont *

Chevra Kaddisha Cemetery, Sacramento Chevra Kaddisha Cemetery (English: ''Holy Society''), later known as Home of Peace Cemetery, was the first Jewish cemetery in California founded on November 12, 1850, by the Sacramento City Hebrew Association, and was once located at 33rd at K Str ...

(1850), first Jewish cemetery in the state *

Dublin Pioneer Cemetery The Dublin Pioneer Cemetery is located in Dublin, Alameda County, California. It contains the remains of many of the pioneer settlers who arrived in the area with the 1849 California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a ...

(1859), Dublin * Evergreen Cemetery (1877), Los Angeles * Evergreen Cemetery (1850s), Santa Cruz * Golden Gate Cemetery (1870–1909), San Francisco * Holy Cross Cemetery (1887), Colma * Holy Cross Cemetery (1860s), Menlo Park * Jackson Pioneer Jewish Cemetery (1857), Jackson * Lone Mountain Cemetery (1854), San Francisco; which had included four cemeteries within the complex. *

Long Beach Municipal Cemetery Long Beach Municipal Cemetery, is a cemetery established as early as 1901 and located at the northwest corner of Willow Street and Orange Avenue in Signal Hill, California. It is located next door, and east of Sunnyside Cemetery. It was formerly k ...

(), Signal Hill *

Marysville Hebrew Cemetery Marysville Hebrew Cemetery also known as Marysville Jewish Cemetery, and Jewish Cemetery of Marysville, is a no longer active Jewish cemetery founded in 1855 by the Marysville Hebrew Benevolent Society, and is located at the southeast corner of ...

(1855), Marysville * Mount Eden Cemetery (1860), Hayward * New Helvetia Cemetery (c. 1845), Sacramento *

Nevada City Jewish Cemetery Nevada City Jewish Cemetery is a no longer active Jewish cemetery founded in 1854 by the Nevada Hebrew Society, and located in Nevada City, California, Nevada City, Nevada County, California, Nevada County, California. The last burial was during t ...

(1854), Nevada City *

(c. 1851), Nevada City *

(c. 1851), San Andreas * Pioneer Memorial Cemetery (1857), San Bernardino *

Placerville Union Cemetery Placerville Union Cemetery, formerly Union Cemetery, is a burial ground formed in 1871 by a group of fraternal organizations, and located in Placerville, California. It had been established as a private cemetery, and in 2005 the management was sw ...

(1871), Placerville *

Oak Hill Memorial Park Oak Hill Memorial Park is a cemetery in San Jose, California. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest secular cemetery in California. Oak Hill is the northernmost hill in the San Juan Bautista Hills of South San Jose. History The cemet ...

, San Jose (1847), the oldest secular cemetery in California *

San Fernando Pioneer Memorial Cemetery San Fernando Pioneer Memorial Cemetery, earlier known as Morningside Cemetery, is a cemetery in the Sylmar district of Los Angeles. Located on a 3.8-acre (15,000 m2) site at the corner of Foothill Boulevard and Bledsoe Street, the Pioneer Cemeter ...

(1850s), Los Angeles * San Lorenzo Pioneer Memorial Park, also known as San Lorenzo Pioneer Cemetery, San Lorenzo (managed by the

Hayward Area Historical Society Hayward Area Historical Society (HAHS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to documenting the history of the city of Hayward, California and adjacent communities. These areas include San Lorenzo, Ashland, Cherryland, Castro Valley, Fairview ...

) *

Santa Clara Mission Cemetery Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...

(1777), Santa Clara *

Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery Sierra Madre Pioneer Cemetery, is a cemetery and a historic landmark in Sierra Madre, California. History In 1881, Nathaniel Coburn Carter purchased land located along Central Ave., later renamed Sierra Madre Boulevard, for use as a Cemetery ...

(1882),

Sierra Madre Sierra Madre (Spanish, 'mother mountain range') may refer to: Places and mountains Mexico *Sierra Madre Occidental, a mountain range in northwestern Mexico and southern Arizona *Sierra Madre Oriental, a mountain range in northeastern Mexico *S ...

Sonora Hebrew Cemetery The Sonora Hebrew Cemetery, also known as Pioneer Jewish Cemetery, is an inactive Jewish cemetery founded in c. 1851, and located in Sonora, California. This was the first Jewish cemetery in the Gold Rush region. History The cemetery was foun ...

(c. 1851),

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

* Union Cemetery (1859), Redwood City *

Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 660 Thompson Lane in Nashville, Tennessee. It is one of the largest cemeteries in Nashville. Among those interred or entombed in the cemetery, there are many prominent members of the country music ge ...

, Colma (1905), many early graves from San Francisco were relocated here. *

Yosemite Cemetery Yosemite Cemetery, also known as Pioneer Cemetery, is a cemetery built in the 1870s and located on the west end of Yosemite Village, in Mariposa County, California. In 2014, the Yosemite Conservancy worked in restoring the cemetery and graves. Ma ...

(1870s),

Mariposa County Mariposa County () is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 17,131. The county seat is Mariposa. It is located in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, north of Fresno, east of ...

*Odd Fellows or Masonic Pioneer (1865), Fallbrook

Florida

* Houston Pioneer Cemetery (1883), Eau Gallie

Indiana

* Pioneer Cemetery (part of

Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial is a United States presidential memorial and a National Historic Landmark District in Lincoln City, Indiana. It preserves the farm site where Abraham Lincoln lived with his family from 1816 to 1830. During that ...

and gravesite of Nancy Hanks Lincoln), Lincoln City

Maine

(1731), Yarmouth

Nebraska

Mormon Pioneer Cemetery The Mormon Pioneer Cemetery is located at 3300 State Street in present-day Florence at the north end of Omaha, Nebraska. The Cemetery is the burial site of hundreds of Mormon pioneers who lived in Winter Quarters, a temporary settlement that la ...

(1840s), Omaha * Prospect Hill Cemetery (1856), Omaha

New York

, Canandaigua *

(1810), Evans Center; NRHP-listed *

(1787), Sidney; NRHP-listed

Ohio

* Pioneer Memorial Cemetery (1790),

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Oregon

* Eugene Masonic Cemetery (1859), Eugene * Eugene Pioneer Cemetery (1872), Eugene; NRHP-listed * Fernwood Pioneer Cemetery, Newberg; NRHP-listed * Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery (1882), Portland *

Gresham Pioneer Cemetery Gresham Pioneer Cemetery, founded in 1859, lies on the east side of Southwest Walters Road in Gresham, Oregon, United States. The cemetery is bordered by the Springwater Corridor Trail and Johnson Creek (Willamette River), Johnson Creek on the sou ...

(1859), Gresham * Hargadine Cemetery (1867), Ashland *

Hillsboro Pioneer Cemetery The Hillsboro Pioneer Cemetery is a pioneer cemetery in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. It is located at the west end of the city along the Tualatin Valley Highway and adjacent to Dairy Creek. The cemetery comprises three formerly private cem ...

(1870), Hillsboro * Lebanon Pioneer Cemetery,

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

; NRHP-listed, NRHP-listed in Linn County *

Lee Mission Cemetery Lee Mission Cemetery is a pioneer cemetery in Salem, Oregon, United States. History Lee Mission Cemetery was established in 1842 with the burial of Lucy Thompson Lee, the second wife of Rev. Jason Lee. The cemetery's gate has the date 1838, which ...

(1842), Salem *

Lone Fir Cemetery Lone Fir Cemetery in the southeast section of Portland, Oregon, United States is a cemetery owned and maintained by Metro, a regional government entity. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the first burial was in 1846 with the cem ...

(1855), Portland * River View Cemetery (1882), Portland * Salem Pioneer Cemetery (1850s), Salem

Texas

Der Stadt Friedhof Der Stadt Friedhof (the city cemetery) is a pioneer cemetery established in 1846 along Barons Creek on the corner of East Schubert Street and Lee Street, in Fredericksburg, Texas. It is the oldest known cemetery within Fredericksburg and is the ...

(1846), Fredericksburg * Founders Memorial Cemetery (1836), Houston *

Pioneer Park Cemetery Pioneer Park Cemetery is a conglomeration of four graveyards with the remains of several of the city's earliest founders. It is located in the Convention Center District of downtown Dallas, Texas, US, and directly east of Pioneer Plaza. The f ...

(1849), Dallas

Washington

* Bothell Pioneer Cemetery (1889),

Bothell Bothell () is a city in King and Snohomish counties in the U.S. state of Washington. It is part of the Seattle metropolitan area, situated near the northeast end of Lake Washington. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 48,161 resident ...

; NRHP-listed * Chamber's Prairie-Ruddell Pioneer Cemetery, Lacey; NRHP-listed, NRHP-listed in Thurston County * Union Cemetery-Pioneer Calvary Cemetery,

Tumwater Tumwater is a town in Thurston County, Washington, United States. The population was 25,350 at the 2020 census. It is situated near where the Deschutes River enters Budd Inlet, the southernmost point of Puget Sound; it also borders the state ca ...

; NRHP-listed, NRHP-listed in Thurston County

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pioneer Cemetery Cemeteries American pioneers