Placerville Union Cemetery, formerly Union Cemetery, is a burial ground formed in 1871 by a group of fraternal organizations, and located in Placerville,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It had been established as a private cemetery, and in 2005 the management was switched to the

El Dorado County El Dorado County (; ''El Dorado'', Spanish language, Spanish for "The Golden ne), officially the County of El Dorado, is a List of counties in California, county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

History

19th and 20th-centuries

The fraternal organizations that founded the cemetery in August 1871, included the Masons, the

Ancient Order of Druids The Ancient Order of Druids (AOD) is the oldest neo-druid order in the world. It was formed in London, England, in 1781. Its motto is ''Dieu, Notre Pays et Roy'' (old) and ''Justice, Philanthropy and Brotherly Love''. History 28 November 1781, ...

Odd Fellows Odd Fellows (or Oddfellows when referencing the Grand United Order of Oddfellows or some British-based fraternities; also Odd Fellowship or Oddfellowship) is an international fraternity consisting of lodges first documented in 1730 in 18th-cen ...

Improved Order of Red Men The Improved Order of Red Men is a List of civic, fraternal, service, and professional organizations, fraternal organization established in North America in 1834. It claims direct descent from the colonial era Sons of Liberty. Their rituals and ...

Fraternal Order of Eagles Fraternal Order of Eagles (F.O.E.) is a fraternal organization that was founded on February 6, 1898, in Seattle, Washington, by a group of six theater-owners including John Cort (impresario), John Cort (the first president), brothers John Considin ...

Native Sons of the Golden West The Native Sons of the Golden West (NSGW) is a fraternity, fraternal service organization founded in the U.S. state of California in 1875, dedicated to historic preservation and documentation of the state's historic structures and places, the pla ...

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (United States Navy, U.S. Navy), and the United States Marine Corps, Marines who served in the American Ci ...

, and the

Knights of Pythias The Knights of Pythias is a Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal organization and secret society founded in Washington, D.C., on . The Knights of Pythias was the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an Act of Co ...

. The interments in the graveyard include the various fraternal organization members, the Placerville city founders from the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

, and Union Army civil war veterans. From the time of the cemetery founding up until 2005, it had operated as a privately managed; with the

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

in management until 1950.

21st-century

In 2000, Chapel of the Pines owned by the

Loewen Group Raymond L. "Ray" Loewen (born June 27, 1940) is a Canadian businessman, best known as the former owner of Loewen Funeral Group. Loewen also had a brief political career, serving as an MLA in British Columbia in the late 1970s. Early life Loewen ...

managed the cemetery, and there had been issues with improper cemetery burials, landscape maintenance issues, and vagrants living on the premise for two months. The County of El Dorado accepted management of the property in 2006, after a history of financial issues and money mismanagement faced by the burial ground. In the time of management change in 2006, there was a need to keep better records, as many of the paper grave records had gone missing, and to upgrade the water system. In February 2020, the headstones in the cemetery were damaged, and possibly vandalized. The Placerville Union Cemetery is purportedly haunted, which has attracted paranormal enthusiasts.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Cemeteries in California 1871 establishments in California Placerville, California Cemeteries established in the 1870s

History

19th and 20th-centuries

21st-century

See also

References

External links