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| Intersection of Cedar Avenue and Lake Street Photo credit: Paul Weir |
Every day tens of thousands of commuters pass through the intersection of Cedar Avenue and Lake Street in South Minneapolis. Most of them are unaware of the fact that they are within several feet of a major historic site. In June 2002, Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Although it is the oldest existing cemetery in Minneapolis, that was not sufficient reason for its inclusion of the Register. In fact, federal designation is an honor that is rarely awarded to cemeteries since any cemetery, by definition, is historic. So, why does this cemetery merit such an honor?
The cemetery was awarded its historic designation because of the role that those buried in the cemetery played in the early days of the city's and the state's history.
As its name suggests, there are a number of Minnesota territorial pioneers buried there, as well as approximately 200 military veterans. Three veterans of the War of 1812 are buried at Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers, as are approximately 170 Civil War veterans. Other veterans served in the Mexican-American and Spanish-American Wars. The cemetery has strong ties to the early anti-slavery movement of the 1850s and 50s and has been racially integrated since at least the 1860s, a practice that was not common at that time.
However, veterans and territorial pioneers (i.e., those who lived in Minnesota before 1858) make up only a small percentage of the 21,000 people buried there. The majority of people were working class--the people who, quite literally, built the City of Minneapolis. These included hundreds of people who worked in the flour and milling industries, and who built or worked for the railroads. There are several thousand immigrants in the cemetery. Children make up the largest group, over half of the burials are children under the age of ten.
The cemetery is open from April 15th to October 15th between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The next time you're in the neighborhood and have a few extra minutes, think about stopping in and paying your respects to some very interesting people.
