Union Cemetery, Calgary

Denomination Protestant

Established 1890

Union Cemetery is the oldest burial ground in Calgary. Many of the founders and early pioneers of Calgary and district are buried here.

When Union Cemetery was established in 1891, the cost of a single plot was five dollars, a double plot was ten dollars, and the charge for digging and closing was two dollars. These were significant amounts at the time – especially since the new burial ground could hardly be called convenient. Since no bridge existed over the Elbow River, funeral carriages had to lurch up and down steep banks and slosh through fairly deep and hazardous water. Pedestrian mourners had to wait till a ferryman rowed them over, a few at a time. And don’t forget that Calgary’s weather was as unpredictable then as it is today – something that was eventually recognized in 1909, when a mortuary chapel was built to store sealed coffins for the winter.

https://www.calgary.ca/csps/parks/cemeteries/union-cemetery.html