Evergreen Memorial Cemetery

About

Evergreen Memorial Cemetery was first founded in the early 1820’s. The cemetery was once two separate cemeteries, one being Evergreen Cemetery, and the other, Bloomington Cemetery. Bloomington Cemetery was founded in 1850. Due to high vandalism and the cemetery’s deterioration, the two merged together in 1963 when the City of Bloomington bought Evergreen Cemetery from its owners. Evergreen Memorial Cemetery spans 87 acres. The cemetery is very beautiful, with many trees and neat landscaping. Amongst the cemetery are different sections. There is the old section, where the very early inhabitants of Bloomington-Normal reside. There are also two sections for war veterans, one of which is for Civil War soldiers. Another section is surrounded by a large plaque with a children’s poem on it, and which is the center of the children’s section. The way the whole cemetery is set up is very organized. There are also many famous people and people who are important to Bloomington-Normal’s history buried and Evergreen Memorial Cemetery, such as David Davis and Dorothy Gage (the niece of L. Frank Baum, the author of ‘The Wizard of Oz.’) Evergreen Memorial Cemetery also has a few events throughout the year, the most prevalent being the Evergreen Cemetery Discovery Walk.