The cemetery now referred
to as
"Alvarado" is a
combination of 6 or 7
early cemeteries created
by different groups
between the late
1860's and the turn
of the century. From the
early 1900's through
the present day, members
of the Masonic Lodge #12,
AF& AM, have been the
caring stewards - a
daunting task undertaken
by generations of lodge
members on behalf of
their own and other
organizations. The
current sexton is Ned
Biggs of Idaho Springs.
He has the current
records.
The oldest section sits
back against the mountain
in the old Masonic
section. Tyler
Disbrow's grave
(1869) has been
referenced as the oldest
although there is an
earlier child's
grave from 1865. The
Masons and the Oddfellows
were the first to use the
land for cemetery
purposes. here were
early Masonic lodges in
both Empire and
Georgetown, so it is
quite possible that the
lodges acted jointly to
form a cemetery for all -
certainly for the western
end of the county.
Early residents from
Empire, Georgetown,
Silver Plume, Lawson and
Dumont are buried here.
Georgetown had a early
cemetery inside the town
limits, but the rocky
soil and windswept nature
of the area were always
problems. As the
Alvarado cemetery became
better know, it became
the burial preference for
Georgetown residents.
The Silver Plume cemetery
started with the
Oddfellows cemetery in
1881, while the Empire
cemetery was organized by
the Town of Empire in the
1890's. It is no
surprise that many of the
pioneers from these
towns, many of whom died
prior to the
establishment of local
cemeteries, are buried
here.
Courtesy of Christine
Bradley, Clear Creek
County Archivist.
The cemetery is located
off Highway I-70 about 40
miles west of Denver on
the frontage road. Take
the Georgetown exit and
at the stop sign go left
and follow the frontage
road back along the
highway about 4 miles
until you see the wrought
iron gate to the cemetery
on the right side.
The base map to the right
was used with the
original application to
register the cemetery. It
was prepared and
presented for acceptance
by the Georgetown Masonic
Lodge 12 (AF & AM).
The "Section"
notation designate the
section of the cemetery.
The areas of the cemetery
here referred to as
"A" now include
the whole area to the
northeast of the St.
Mary's and Glendale
Sections. "A"
is for Alvarado, the
largest section running
from the main gate back
towards the Handicamp;
"G" Glendale
section, the heavily
wooded area which runs
from the main gate over
to the large house.
"S" is St.
Mary's, the catholic
section, which is carved
out of the Glendale
area.
The burial list was
created by students of
the Anthropology
Department of Fort Lewis
College under the
supervision of Mona Lee.
Presented here courtesy
of the Clear Creek
County, Colorado
Archives.
Photos were selected and
taken by Foothills
Genealogical Society
members and friends.
Arvada Cemetery was
established in 1863.
Volunteers of Foothills
Genealogical Society of
Colorado copied the
tombstone inscriptions of
Arvada Cemetery in 1983.
Information was copied
from tombstones, mortuary
markers, other metal
markers and foot stones.
The recording of
tombstones inscriptions
was done row by row, and
published that way, to
keep family burials more
intact than if listed
alphabetically.
Volunteers also referred
to cemetery records which
allowed burials that did
not have tombst
Ault Cemetery is
sometimes referred to as
the "Medlan
Cemetery" as it is
located near the site of
the old Medlan School and
Post Office on South
Turkey Creek.
Additional Information
about Ault Cemetery is
available in "The
Foothills Inquirer"
Vol. 23 No. 1, Spring
2003, on pages 29-30.
This article describes
how the cemetery was
founded, where to find a
map of the location, and
references other articles
published about this
cemetery.
Access to the cemetery is
off of Highway 285 at
Homestead, then to the
end of Ault Lane.
Called Bailey, on
hillside above original
grocery store No side of
Rd. Homes have been
built over the area.
There are no markers - 3
original burials reported
by Harold Warren
historian.
Empire, Colorado NE1/4
SW1/4 Sec29 T7S R72W
saulo
Gilpin County
Bald Mountain Cemetery
29
Bald Mountain Cemetery
list is compiled from Sid
Squibb's
"Tombstone
Inscriptions from
Cemeteries in Gilpin
County", 1977
(Denver Public Library,
G929.578862 5773to and
FHL film #159756 item 9);
"Bald Mountain
Cemetery, Gilpin
County" by Alan
Granruth (Denver Public
Library,
G292.578862G766bal,1995);
"Headstone
Inscriptions from
Cemeteries in Gilpin
County, Colorado by Leola
H. Blanchard, Chairman of
the Genealogical records
Committee, Peace Pipe
Chapter, D.A.R., Denver
Chapter, 1953, along with
Bald Mountain Cemetery is
located about a mile
north of Nevadaville, an
old mining town in Gilpin
County. Go west thru
Central City on Main
Street - Nevadaville
Rd. Follow the dirt
road north out of
Nevadaville, turn left at
the fork in the road.
Go about 1 mile to
another fork in the road,
turn right and follow
this road to Bald
Mountain Cemetery.
Harold Warren, historian,
reported these burials as
of the folks who operated
Glen Isle from 1923-1946
when they formed a
partnership with Barbara
and Gordon Tripp - their
granddaughter. Cemetery
remains in hands of the
Baldwin family as of
1984.
Near top of the hill
above Glen Osle and No of
US 285 and the river.
The Bear Creek Cemetery
Association consisted of
the three landowners who
were the first board of
directors. At the
expiration of the charter
5 March 1928, these three
men continued acting as
Board of Trustees until
the death of Mr. Wilmot
on 2 December 1935, and
Mr. Downes on 26
September 1937. It is
reported that as long as
Mr. Wilmot lived an
American flag always flew
over the graves of the
Civil War soldiers.
More information and the
history of Bear Creek
Cemetery is available in
the "The Foothills
Inquirer",
Spring1992, Volume 12
Number 4 on pages 91-119.
It provides a history of
the Cemetery, a map, and
details about each
individual and their
burial location. An
index is also included.
On the 31st day of
December 1871 Emma
Hester, daughter of J.T.
& M.E., died and was
buried in Bergen township
on the hill near the Bear
Creek Wagon Road. This
quiet rocky hillside now
located one half mile
northeast of Evergreen
Lake on Highway 74 was
destined to become the
local cemetery. On 12 Oct
1907, D.P. Wilmot,
rancher/farmer, sold for
$300 each to Michael
Baker and Robert L.
Downes, land to be used
for cemetery purposes
only. The deed was for
an undivided one third
interest in and to the SE
1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Sec.
4 in township 5S, Range
71W, now the site of the
cemetery. The deed also
included a one third
interest for an area in
the town of Evergreen to
the North of Bear Creek
Wagon Road in Sec. 10.On
the 18th of June 1908
Robert L. Downes, Dwight
P. Wilmot and Michael
Baker sold for $150 to
the Bear Creek Cemetery
Association of Evergreen,
incorporated and
organized under the laws
of the state of Colorado,
5 March 1908, for a term
of 20 years, a parcel of
land containing
John Ellis was the first
burial - on land that had
been homesteaded by his
wife Agnes - died 28 June
1884 at 74 years of age.
Four children of Willard
and Christie Head who
died of diphtheria are
buried here. These
burials from "The
Upper Side of the
Piecrust" by
Margaret Bentley, 1978.
Read by FhGS in 1984 Mark
S. states on Find a grave
- Robert Wiley was
listed with the Ellia
family in the 1870 census
at age 60
South of Conifer,
Colorado, West side
Highway 285 at Foxton
Junction Rd. SW 1/4 SE
1/4 Sec. 23, I6s, R71W,
6th PM
The Belgin family,
Soloman & Mary Ann,
came to Arvada from
England about 1870 and
homesteaded 160 acres in
Colorado Territory. Mary
Ann's brother John
Clark had come
previously. They came
with 7 children and had 5
more. The first burial
was 2-year-old son Frank
who drowned in the
drainage ditch in 1871.
Labeled foot stones show
the location of burial
places for each
individual. Some
information was gleaned
from Evergreen (Hiwan)
Historical Soc.,
Evergreen, "Rocky
Mountain News",
Memories, No
The cemetery is located
at 7485 Simms Street,
Arvada, CO Go to red gate
on west side of Simms St
between 76th Ave and 75th
Ave (Gate has a firm
“no trespassing” type
of sign). Access point
has a short angled
concrete pad leading to
the red gate that sits
just south of the ditch
(Croke Canal) right there
at Simms St. (north ditch
is Farmers Highline
ditch). Cemetery lies
about 150 yards west of
Simms Street in the trees
and just south of the
path. GPS: N39
50.090, W105 07.790
S32, T2S, R69W NE
quarter
The first burial was of
Georgia A Dunbar in 1871.
It contains 65 known and
unknown burials and is
still in use. The
records of buriels listed
here are from Harold
Warrens' Park County
burial records notebook
compiled in the
1980's and owned by
FhGS
The cemetery is located
1/4 mile east of Terryall
Rd. at the mouth of
Graceyard Gulch in NW1/4,
NW1/2, Sec16, T9S, R74W,
6th PM Park County,
Colorado.
