Fairview Cemetery is a graveyard in
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...
. It was for many years the only non-Catholic cemetery in the city. There are roughly 3,700 people buried there. The graveyard is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.
History
The graveyard was established in its current location during the 1880s by James T. Newhall and Preston H. Kuhn. As declared in the opening entry of the Fairview Cemetery Company minutes, "The necessity of having and maintaining a proper place for burial of the dead in the town of Santa Fe, N. M., being apparent, Mr. James T. Newhall and Mr. Preston H. Kuhn made an estimate of the amount that would be required for the purpose ..." The oldest gravestones date to the 1860s, belonging to people who were originally buried in the Masonic and Odd Fellows graveyard which used to be in downtown Santa Fe. Most of these bodies were moved to Fairview during the period 1895–1901.
Many Santa Fe residents who were prominent in their day are interred at Fairview, including
Sylvanus Morley
Sylvanus Griswold Morley (June 7, 1883September 2, 1948) was an American archaeologist and epigrapher who studied the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in the early 20th century. Morley led extensive excavations of the Maya site of Chichen Itza ...
(1883–1948), Gerald Cassidy (1869–1934), Thomas B. Catron (1840–1921),
Isabel Lancaster Eckles (1877–1971), Maximilian Frost (1852–1909), Luis Gold (1820–1880), Joseph Hersch (1822–1901), Napoleon Laughlin (1844–1924), Frank E. Mera, MD (1870–1970), Miguel Antonio Otero (1859–1944), John Pflueger (1864–1961), William J. Slaughter (1858–1905), Abraham Staab (1839–1913), Julia Staab (1844–1896), William Thornton (1843–1916), and Carlos Vierra (1876–1937).
[Fairview Cemetery Preservation Association]
The cemetery is now operated as a nonprofit organization by the Fairview Cemetery Preservation Association (FCPA). The FCPA holds its annual clean-up event in mid-May each year, followed by a general membership meeting. In early 2013, Fairview Cemetery staff oversaw construction of a cement wall several feet above and below grade to limit prairie dog intrusion into the cemetery.
See also
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List of cemeteries in New Mexico
References
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External links
Fairview Cemetery's Home Page*
{{Authority control
Buildings and structures in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico
Tourist attractions in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Mexico
National Register of Historic Places in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Pueblo Revival architecture in Santa Fe, New Mexico