Mormon Pioneer Cemetery

Mormon Pioneer Cemetery
The monument erected within the cemetery in 1936
LocationOmaha, Nebraska
Coordinates41°20′05″N 95°57′58″W / 41.33472°N 95.96611°W / 41.33472; -95.96611
Built1846[1]
DesignatedOctober 30, 1990[1]
Location of Mormon Pioneer Cemetery in Nebraska
Mormon Pioneer Cemetery (the United States)

The Mormon Pioneer Cemetery is located at 3300 State Street in the present-day Florence neighborhood at the north end of Omaha, Nebraska. The Cemetery is the burial site of hundreds of Mormon pioneers who lived in Winter Quarters, a temporary settlement that lasted from 1846 to 1848 as the settlers moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. It was designated a landmark by the City of Omaha in 1990.[1]

History

Records of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) indicate that 359 Mormon pioneers were buried at the site. Remnants of three of the graves are visible today, uncovered during the erection of a commemorative monument in 1936. The monument, a bronze statue by Salt Lake City artist Avard Fairbanks, depicts parents who have committed the body of an infant to the grave. The graves of a number of Florence residents are also in the cemetery, which the local community began to use several years after the Mormons left. The area had been used by Native American burial mounds prior to the pioneers.

In 1935, the city of Omaha began leasing the cemetery to the LDS Church, with the agreement that the church would landscape and maintain the property.[2] Initially, some community members were opposed to the lease, worried that the history of the Mormon-period usage of the cemetery would overshadow that of the usage by Florence's settlers.[3][4] Just prior to leasing the property to the church, the city had restricted new burials only to those who had a spouse already buried in the cemetery.[5] With permission from LDS Church leaders, the final burial in the cemetery took place during 1953, when a woman was buried next to her husband (he having been interred there in 1913).[6]

In 1999, after leasing the property for over 60 years, the church purchased the cemetery from the city for $1.[7][8] Soon after the purchase, the church announced construction of a temple on land just south of the Mormon Pioneer-era section of the cemetery. As part of the construction, at least five graves were relocated to other areas of the cemetery to make way for the temple.[9]

The cemetery is adjacent to the Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple, near the Mormon Trail Center at Winter Quarters.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Pioneer-Mormon Cemetery. City of Omaha Landmark Heritage Preservation Commission. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
  2. ^ "City Turns Over Old Cemetery to Mormons". Omaha World-Herald (Evening ed.). April 15, 1935. p. 4. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  3. ^ "Old Cemetery For Pioneers". Omaha Bee-News. March 18, 1935. p. 16. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  4. ^ "Clear Way for Church to Lease Cemetery". Omaha World-Herald (Evening ed.). March 28, 1935. p. 24. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  5. ^ "Burial Is Restricted in Mormon Cemetery". Omaha World-Herald (Evening ed.). February 20, 1935. p. 22. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  6. ^ "Burial of Omaha Woman, 82, Last for Mormon Cemetery". Omaha World-Herald (Evening ed.). April 28, 1953. p. 33. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  7. ^ Ruggles, Rick (March 29, 1999). "Cemetery to Belong to Mormons". Omaha World-Herald (Metropolitan ed.). Midlands section, p. 11. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  8. ^ Smiley, Jim (April 4, 1999). "Metro Scene: Mormon Cemetery". Sunday World-Herald (Metropolitan ed.). p. 9-B. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  9. ^ Brunkow, Angie (October 27, 1999). "Mormons Ask to Move Five Graves". Omaha World-Herald (Metropolitan ed.). p. 21. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
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