St. Mary's Cemetery
St. Mary's Cemetery
1915 Park Street
Muskegon, MI 49441
231-722-3956
St. Mary's Cemetery is located on Park Street and Laketon Avenue near US Business 31.
St. Mary's Cemetery information is up to date through April 2016. Click on the letter of your choice and go to that page. You will also find the links below on each of the St. Mary's pages.
History
In 1858, John and Dennis Garvey gave a tract of two acres on the old Grand Rapids Road (now known as Laketon Avenue) to St. Mary’s parish for a cemetery. On the arrival of a missionary priest the members of the parish marched out in the country two miles and erected a cross which the priest blessed, and consecrated the ground. The bodies of Catholics in the old Indian and village cemeteries were moved to the new location.
A rough group of workers in that neighborhood on a spree broke down the cross and tore up the ground. The parish then purchased from Alvan Trowbridge, a mill owner, the land south of Laketon Avenue in the southwest part of Muskegon where St. Mary’s Cemetery is still maintained. – Muskegon County Archives (newspaper clipping, no date).
St. Mary's Cemetery was formally opened in 1868 by Father Henry Rievers, Pastor of St. Mary's Church in Muskegon, Michigan. The original ground for the cemetery (the north-east section) was a gift of the Wheeler family. Later, more land was purchased to the west and south for future expansion. On June 15, 1886 the additional land was blessed by Rt. Rev. Bishop Richter.
On that same date, the remains of Rev. Fr. Rievers were removed from Lot 160-3 and re-interred in what is now known as the Priest's Circle in the center of the cemetery. Father Rievers left the major portion of his estate to benefit the cemetery.
For photos see www.findagrave.com.
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