A cemetery is filled with many interesting stories, stories of the souls that are laid to rest within its gates. But often the cemetery itself has an interesting story to tell. 

Today on the blog I want to introduce a new series called Cemetery Stories. For these blog posts, I plan to focus on the story of individual cemeteries. I have visited a lot of cemeteries over the years, and many of them have interesting stories and historical significance. So for this series, I want to look a little deeper into history, geography, notable graves, and all the different elements that make them unique.

For today’s cemetery story, I thought I would look at Greenwood Cemetery in Owen Sound. 

History

Greenwood Cemetery was created in 1858 when land surveyor Charles Rankin submitted a plan to the town council for a new public cemetery. At the time the plan was for 5 acres of land, divided into 27 blocks, including space for vaults.¹ Today the cemetery is quite large, sitting on approximately 40 acres of land.² Greenwood is also sometimes called “The People’s Cemetery” because, in those early days, the land was purchased using the people’s money.¹ The cemetery contains 26,700+ burials.¹

The oldest home in Owen Sound can be found in Greenwood Cemetery. The house is dated from the 1840s¹ and is used as the cemetery office.² There is also a red brick burial chapel on the cemetery grounds. Built-in 1905, it served as both a chapel and a receiving vault. There is a trap door built into the floor that a coffin could be lowered through, into the storage racks below, to rest until the Spring when the remains could be interred. The chapel stopped being used for burials in the 1930s when the mausoleum opened. The chapel was converted and used as an office space for a time, until the early 90s. Today the building looks to be mostly empty.³

Greenwood is also home to a beautiful mausoleum. Construction of the large mausoleum began in 1927. The Art Deco-inspired exterior is covered in Indiana limestone, while the interior is finished with Italian marble. It also features some lovely stained glass windows and has a large central chapel that is used year-round.¹

Mausoleum. Greenwood Cemetery, Owen Sound ON ©2023

The cemetery is dotted with a variety of gravestone styles, and there are three memorial garden sections. It also has a section for members of the fraternal organization, The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), that features a large stone cairn with IOOF symbolism.

Greenwood also has a Potter’s Field and memorial. The memorial honors the more than 1,000 women, children, and men who were buried in unmarked graves between 1858 and 1989. A potter’s field, also known as poor grounds, stranger’s plot, or indigent plot, is a section of a cemetery where those who are impoverished are buried.⁴ 1,242 people are thought to be buried in Greenwood’s potter’s field⁴, all unmarked aside from the memorial and one lonely gravestone that sits close to the tree line at the back of the indigent plot. According to an article in the Northern Terminus: The African Canadian History Journal, many of the unknown graves are Black pioneers. Only a small few have been identified.

Among the unidentified graves lies an infant, who in 1889 was found in Victoria Park, wrapped in white cloth. The transcription in the cemetery records, simply reads “Unknown, child found dead”.⁴

Notable Graves

Greenwood Cemetery is the final resting place of a few notable memorials. William Avery “Billy” Bishop, Canada’s World War I Flying Ace rests here. There are also two other Victoria Cross recipients buried here; LTC David Vivian Currie (World War II) and Thomas Holmes (World War I). 

Speedskater and world-record holder Lela Brooks is also laid to rest here, as well as professional hockey player, Harry “Apple Cheeks” Lumley. Margaret and John Thomson, parents of famous Canadian painter Tom Thomson, are also buried here. 

There are many more notable pioneers and local celebrities buried here, like Charles Rankin, who submitted the cemetery plan and helped bring the cemetery into reality. The best way to pay your respects is with a self-guided walking tour. The cemetery offers three tours that take you to different areas within the large cemetery and highlights all the notable members of the community who are laid to rest at Greenwood. You can pick up the printed tour guides at the cemetery office. The guides include a map, directions, and a little history for each stop on the tour. 

Greenwood Cemetery, Owen Sound ON ©2023

We visited the cemetery twice on our trip to Owen Sound. Because it’s so large we felt we had to. Our first visit was late in the day, so the mausoleum had been locked up for the night. We were losing light quickly, and every turn on the winding paths revealed new sections I wanted to explore further. We visited again the next morning and were able to explore the Mausoleum and walk the sections at our leisure.

Greenwood was full of life during both our visits. In the evening we saw folks paying respects at graves, but also saw families taking advantage of the safe, paved pathways. Two young children were learning to ride their bikes between the rows. 

The next day, we saw many walkers enjoying the scenery, both young and old. We also saw folks walking their dogs and running into others they knew who were doing the same. It was lovely to see a green space in use but also used respectfully.

Thanks for reading!

References:

1. Greenwood Cemetery Walking Tour “The People’s Cemetery” | Print brochure
2. Greenwood Cemetery | Owen Sound
3. The Chapel, Historical Owen Sound | Plaque on the cemetery grounds
4. Owen Sound’s Greenwood Cemetery “A Land for the Living” | Terri Jackson