Prospect Hill Cemetery

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Prospect Hill Cemetery, located between 31st and 33rd Streets and Parker and Grant Streets in North Omaha, Nebraska, is Omaha's oldest pioneer cemetery.

Contents 1 History 2 Burials 3 References 4 External links 5 Related publications

[edit] History

In 1858, Jesse Lowe set aside 10 acres of land for burial purposes on land where Native Americans and Mormons had reportedly been buried earlier. The location was reportedly one mile from the Mormon Trail. The first official burial occurred in June, 1858. By I859 the cemetery had grown to 20 acres and was enlarged again in 1890, when the Prospect Hill Cemetery Association was founded. Today Prospect Hill is comprised of 35 acres. Many of Omaha's early business leaders and politicians are buried in the cemetery.^[1]

There is a chapel constructed of rough brick and accented in stone, and a Tudor-Revival gatehouse located on Parker Street. The cemetery is was designated as a local landmark in 1979.^[2]

Of the 15,000 burials there, Prospect Hill is home to many Omaha legends, including several who had streets and counties named after them. The cemetery has many interesting monuments and a special section for soldiers from Fort Omaha. It also has graves for at least 360 early African American Omahans.^[3]

[edit] Burials

• John Taffe, Nebraska politician
• William James Connell, Nebraska politician
• Charles Otto Lobeck, Nebraska politician
• Joseph Millard, Nebraska politician
• Phineas Hitchcock, Nebraska politician
• Algernon Paddock, Nebraska politician
• Augustus Hall, Nebraska politician
• John Hawley, Nebraska politician
• George Armstrong, Nebraska politician
• Ezra Millard, Nebraska politician
• Clinton Briggs, Nebraska politician
• Smith Caldwell, Nebraska politician
• Andrew Poppleton, Nebraska politician
• William Brewer, Nebraska politician
• Reuben Wilbur, Nebraska politician
• George Anthes, Nebraska politician

[edit] References

1. ^ (n.d.) Historic Prospect Hill - Omaha's Pioneer Cemetery Nebraska Historical Society.
2. ^ (n.d.) Prospect Cemetery Omaha Public Schools
3. ^ (1981) Project Prospect: A youth investigation of blacks buried at Prospect Cemetery Girls Club of Omaha

[edit] External links

• Photo of the Nebraska State Historical Marker
• Historic Prospect Hill - Omaha's Pioneer Cemetery] Nebraska State Historical Society website.
• FindAGrave.Com - Prospect Hill Cemetery
• Prospect Hill Cemetery City of Omaha Landmarks Commission.
• Prospect Hill - Filled with facts about the history of Prospect Hill, along with a photos.

[edit] Related publications

• Baumann, L. Martin, C., Simpson, S. (199) Omaha's Historic Prospect Hill Cemetery: A History of Prospect Hill Cemetery with Biographical Notes on Over 1400 People Interred Therein. Prospect Hill Cemetery Historical Development Foundation.