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New signs for Rossland’s oldest cemetery

The signage at Rossland’s oldest cemetery was recently updated.
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Jackie Drysdale, chair of the Rossland Heritage Commission, Mayor Kathy Moore, Joanne Drystek of the Rossland Heritage Commission and Carol Albo, head of the Sacred Heart Parish Cemetery Committee, posed with the new entrance sign to the Calvary Cemetery in Lower Rossland. (Chelsea Novak/Rossland News)

The signage at Rossland’s oldest cemetery was recently updated.

Calvary Cemetery is the Catholic cemetery in Rossland and was first used in 1895. It’s located beside the old Wagon Road to Trail Creek Landing and at the end of Esling Drive in Lower Rossland.

The new signage includes an entrance sign, installed on a new gate, and another much larger sign listing all of the people known to be buried there, with a map showing known burial sites.

Funding for the project was provided by the BC Heritage Legacy Fund ($931), the Rossland Heritage Commission ($300) and the Community Initiative Fund ($269).

The signage project has been in the work for over two years and was tied in with research work completed for the book Cemeteries of Rossland, which was published last year.

Carol Albo, head of the Sacred Heart Parish Cemetery Committee, spent many hours with church records and other sources of information and has been able to verify and add many more names to the previous list of people buried in Calvary Cemetery. The total is now 407 people.

This research created the need for larger signage, adding to the initial costs of the project and donations will be gratefully accepted by the parish to fully fund the signs.

The parish would also like to recognize the volunteers who helped erect the signs as well as the City of Rossland for providing assistance, and for providing grass cutting in the cemetery.

Calvary Cemetery is still an active, licensed cemetery — open for cremated remains only. The cemetery is open to visitors, but the parish reminds everyone to please “respect the blessed ground and the monuments of the departed.”

The cemetery is also a heritage site and is listed on the Community Heritage Register.