Old City Cemetery
The OCC was a non-sectarian, public burial ground. It may have burials from as early as 1828. Exact dates of the first burials are unknown because there are no surviving official records. The burials continued until 1908. The cemetery occupies land platted in 1837 in the Irvin's Addition as building lots, even though there may have been bodies buried there. When Mineral Point became a city in 1857, the Council began buying the land that comprises the City Cemetery.
The Old City Cemetery is a biographical index to the first decades of life in Mineral Point and it vividly portrays the struggles of 19th century life. To know the story of the lives of the "residents" of this burial ground is to know the social, economic and political history of the founding of Mineral Point. To leave the OCC unrestored would be an unconscionable loss to our historical resources.
Restoration
The OCC Restoration Project consists of discovering buried tombstones, repairing broken stones and resetting them, removing stones from three concrete berms, cleaning stones, inventorying stones, compiling a database and, ultimately, producing an interactive digital map of the burial ground.
2014
The Old City Cemetery Restoration Project began in 2014 with the work of Jim Bennett, Dave Larson and Nancy Larson. The volunteer-based project has been ongoing since that time under the auspices of the Mineral Point City Parks Department. The goal of the OCC Restoration Project is to rehabilitate and document the Old City Cemetery. Soon after the project began the following people joined and have been helping in various capacities: (Alpha order) Deb Emerson, Joel Gosse, Mary Knudson, Doug Norgord, Nancy Pfotenhauer, Ken Richards and Shan Thomas.
1966 - 1984
Over the years the graveyard fell into disrepair a number of times. Various efforts have been conducted and the last two have been invaluable. The current list of burials is being compiled with reference to the 1966 Women's Guilds Project, the 1976 Women's Club Bicentennial Project and Bill Buss' 1984 Eagle Scout Project. Because the tombstones are now badly eroded, these former efforts have aided the identification of the burials.
Join Us
Anyone interested in joining the Project is welcome. You can reach Shan Thomas or Joel Gosse at the Mineral Point Library Archives or contact the Project on the Old City Cemetery Facebook page.
