Rossland's Historic Cemeteries
Introduction to Rossland’s Cemeteries
As expected in any turn-of-the-century mining town, death was a constant presence. Before the 1897 incorporation of the City of Rossland, few official records and statistics exist for this mining camp then known as the Trail Creek or Red Mountain camp, but those here before 1895 still quarried with mortality. The first recorded death here was recorded in 1893- a miner named George Smith who passed away of fever at age 60 and was later buried at the Le Roi Mine. Records of this burial only exist due to Smith being reburied in the Columbia Cemetery in 1899, which explains why this information is available to us.
Throughout the early years, Rossland has had several early, ad-hoc, unofficial cemeteries as well as burial plots for miners at local mining claims. Before the opening of the City’s Columbia Cemetery, the Red Mountain mining camp had three other burial locations: the Laurel Hill Cemetery, Sunnyside Cemetery, and Calvary Cemetery.
Calvary Cemetery
The Calvary Cemetery is regarded as the oldest among the three as the first recorded burial was in 1895, but we have little evidence to support this theory. The Calvary Cemetery is the burial place for those of the Catholic Faith and the graveyard is still operated by Sacred Heart Catholic Church (Rossland) and owned by the Nelson Diocese.
Laurel Hill Cemetery
The Laurel Hill Cemetery was a common burial ground. Ron Shearer described it as, “an ad hoc, private facility, in the vicinity of Monte Christo Street and Fourth Avenue, used by Rossland’s undertakers without official sanction of the city, without title to the property, without centralized management, without a plan for the location of graves and without centralized record keeping. It was formless and disorganized.” The land used was not included in the 164 acres of land purchased by Ross Thompson, founder of Rossland, in 1894 but an 1897 Fire Insurance Map included the land on record. In 1955, Rossland City Clerk John A. McLeod estimated that over one hundred burials took place during the Laurel Hill's short usage. We know this because in 1900, the city laid plans for improvement of roads. The Laurel Hill Cemetery lay between where Third and Fourth Ave. were to be extended, so all the remains buried in the cemetery needed to be moved. This process took between June of 1901 and May of 1902 to complete.
Sunnyside Cemetery
Little is known about the Sunnyside Cemetery, including its original location. There is evidence suggesting that the Sunnyside Cemetery was also known as “Beatty’s Burial Ground.” In reference to WM. Beatty- Rossland's first Undertaker. Research shows the Sunnyside Cemetery was once located where Railway Ave. is today. Evidence from exhumed remains suggests the graveyard was no longer in use after 1898. Although remains exhumed accidentally in 1964 have been relocated to the Columbia Cemetery, when the Heritage Commission cross-referenced the names/burials between Laurel Hill and the Columbia Cemetery, it was found that many remains were unaccounted for.
Columbia Cemetery - the first official city of rossland cemetery
In 1898, the City of Rossland purchased 80 acres of land from the Nelson & Fort Shepard Railway to be used for parkland as well as a new cemetery. 10 of these acres would soon be occupied by the new Columbia Cemetery and the remaining 70 were to be used for developing parkland.
The Cemetery was designed by city engineer Henry Smith in 1899 and opened the same winter. Access to the cemetery would be granted by a new Park street which would extend down through Happy Valley all the way to the northern border. The cemetery design could be described as “Victorian” in nature, the design laying access to road alliances for horse-drawn carriages, avenues, and lanes all radiating from a central area- mirroring the shape of a large eye. It’s interesting to note that no “block” was rectangular in shape and each number of plots varied from the location to placement but typically held between 97-200 per block- 4x8 plots per block were established in 1899. The cost of a burial in the cemetery was $5.00, it is unknown if that cost included Undertaking fees or if they were separate from the total.
The first burials occurred in the Columbia Cemetery in October of 1899, and for the next few years burials included new deaths and “transfers”- the remains of people who had died and were buried in other cemeteries then relocated to the Columbia Cemetery with a burial permit.
Lemon Block circa 1890’s- fire maps of 1897 showed "undertaker" in the building during this time. Although this location is not in Sourdough Alley, could this be WM. R. Beatty’s long-lost workplace?
Undertakers of Rossland
William R. Beatty came to Rossland from Spokane in June of 1895. Claiming the title of Rossland’s first undertaker, Beatty owned and operated his own building which was located in an area of the bustling townsite called “Commercial Court” - we cannot confirm exactly where this was, although it is likely another name for Sourdough Alley. His business practice was described as “adequate” in Kingsmill’s “First History of Rossland” book, which also noted his ownership of a “fine hearse.” Beatty’s last recorded undertaking job was in July of 1903 and he sold his undertaking business to J.M. Jordan in January of 1904.
Velvet Block- Circa 1900
J.M Jordan and Charles B. Lockhart opened a business in May of 1897 reportedly in the Velvet Block, on the western end of Columbia Ave. Their business was described as “Importers and Dealers in Furniture, Carpets and Undertakers’ Goods.” Lockhart was born in Ontario and studied undertaking at the U.S. College of Embalming. Jordan was born in the State of Georgia, receiving his education in his home state. Both Jordan and Lockhart likely arrived in Rossland in late 1896/early 1897 with united interest ultimately becoming business partners. Lockhart’s first likely recorded undertaking took place in November of 1899 and Jordan’s took place in June of 1902. Lockhart and Jordan’s partnership dissolved in January of 1902 when the Rossland Miner newspaper reported that Lockhart was “heading west.” Jordan sold his undertaking business in 1935 to A.B. Clarke. No records have been found regarding what happened to either Lockhart or Jordan after they departed from Rossland.
H. B. Smith - the city engineer
Born in Galashiels, Scotland July 26th, 1850, Henry Badeley Smith was a Scottish-Canadian engineer who played an important role in the early stages of Rossland’s development as a municipality. Smith briefly studied engineering at the Universities of Aberdeen and London from 1870 to 1872. In early 1872 he underwent an apprenticeship at the Institution of Civil Engineering. This would have given Smith the recognition of a professional civil engineer.
Smith came to Canada in May of 1872 and continued to build his reputation as an engineer and planner. In 1885, Smith designed and constructed Vancouver's first waterworks, although this is somewhat contested. The project was completed in 1889 and Smith left for a trip to England that same year- not returning to BC until 1890. Smith arrived in Rossland with his partner John Dean in 1897/98. Their partnership lasted until April of 1898 after the two had agreed to terminate due to building interpersonal tensions. The end of this partnership, however, did not mean the end of Smith's business. Smith continued to do survey work for private parties, and two days after the termination of the partnership, Smith was hired as Rossland’s city engineer - although this role functioned more like a contractor than a city employee. Smith’s first project for the City was improving the sewer system, although he was quickly redeployed to address Rossland’s deteriorating city streets in 1898. He was also commissioned to address the highly contentious and complicated waterworks plan for the city of Rossland.
Henry Smith’s original design for the Columbia Cemetery. Source: City of Rossland Heritage Commission/Jackie Drysdale
In 1899, Smith was asked to provide a detailed survey of the 10 acres of land the city planned to develop into a cemetery (the other 70 were to be developed into parkland but never were- reasons why remain unclear.) The Rossland Record newspaper described Smith's plan as “an artistic scheme - for the development of five acres of the cemetery. It involved an oval-shaped graveyard, with a luxurious flowerbed in the centre and a web of roads dividing the yard into blocks of varying sizes.” However, development for the graveyard began in the winter season. Smith did not account for, or was unaware of the fact that the lower area of the graveyard was swampy, and his job description did not include the installation of drainage. When the ground thawed in the spring the lowest areas of the cemetery were flooded.
While Smith’s original design looks tidy on paper, the site he was working with was a hilly, wild area. Today, it is difficult to tell if Smith’s full plan was realized, and no records exist to explain if the project was fully completed. However, the existing cemetery as we know it, does follow at least the general idea of Smith’s original plan.
Smith stayed in Rossland until 1909/10, leaving Rossland and returning to Vancouver. Mrs. Halburton Renwick, Smith's partner who had stayed with him throughout his years in Rossland, went with him. They lived together in a shared home in Rossland but stayed separate during their arrival in Vancouver. Henry B. Smith died in 1918 at age of 68 of heart disease. His contributions to Rossland's architectural history should be acknowledged.
Community groups
In 1901, the Anglican Church requested Block 14 (which had not yet been opened) of the Columbia Cemetery to be reserved for members of their congregation. In 1902, the Fraternal Order of Eagles requested to reserve the northern portion of Block 2 for members connected to their fraternal order. In 1914, the Knights of Pythias reserved Block 3 for their members. We are not sure if these specific groups were responsible for burials and maintenance in their respected blocks, but based on the poor condition of all the blocks in the graveyard, it is unlikely that this was a requirement.
Final Years/Current Issues
By the mid-1930s, the use of the cemetery began to decline. Lack of maintenance, few available plots and burial areas, and the opening of the Mountain View Cemetery by the City in Trail were likely all contributing factors. Grass fires lit to keep long grass and weeds under control during WWII often ran wild. These fires may also have contributed to the lack of wooden markers, however, deterioration over decades of operation could have also played a role. Maps from the 1960’s show a tool shed that was once located at the cemetery’s original entrance but relocation from City Workers who maintained the graveyard during the ’50s and 60’s recall deterioration already in progress by the time they were assigned work. It’s also theorized the lack of burials in the 1940s may have contributed to the cemetery's decline.
By 1964 a letter addressed to the City of Rossland was written to bring attention to the lack of upkeep of the graveyard. As addressed, care for the cemetery was negligible due to the lack of provincial standards for cemeteries. In later years the province began to address the standard of upkeep for private cemeteries and later addressed municipal ones, Rossland’s response was declared by Bill Vickers, City Clerk at the time: “Rossland was too close to bankruptcy and there was doubt that the Council would be able to address that situation in the near future.”
By the early 2000s night parties began to take place in the graveyard. Monument damage that was reported during this time could be related. But after requests to the city council, the road to the graveyard was eventually barricaded. All in all between 1940 and 1971 only 25 burials were recorded. The last recorded burial took place in 2005. Seven burials were recorded between 1985-2005, most likely interments in family plots. No burials have been recorded since.
The graveyards- both Columbia and Calvary Cemeteries were added to the Rossland Heritage Registry in 2010. That same year a restoration plan was developed to address the damage and uncontrolled vegetation that had occurred in the graveyard due to lack of maintenance. Between 2011 and 2014 City funding meant $10,000 a year would be granted for restoration work. This included things such as removal of heavy vegetation, monument restoration, pruning of trees, mapping, and identifying gravesites. Restoration work is still ongoing today. We have hopes that the Cemetery may one day be fully restored and maintained so visitors can enjoy Rossland's history to the fullest.
Sources:
Drysdale, Jackie. Columbia Cemetery section 1,3, 6,
Kingsmill, Harold. “First History of Rossland.” (Wm. R. Beatty, Lockhart, and Jordan),
Rossland Miner: January 10 and June 10 of 1902 (Charles Lockhart leaving Rossland). January 21st- Beatty disposes of business. December 3rd, 1935- J.M. Jordan sells Funeral Parlor.
Rossland Record newspaper
Shearer, Ron (2019). “Henry B Smith and the City Of Rossland.” Unpublished essay.
City of Rossland Heritage Commission: Rossland Cemeteries
City of Rossland Heritage Commission. “Cemeteries of Rossland,” pages 7, 9-15, 17.
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