Calvary Cemetery

 

Calvary Cemetery is owned and operated by the Church of St. Stephen and is located on the west end of the City of Anoka on the north side of Highway 10.  Established in the 1800s, Calvary Cemetery is just over 10 acres. 

 

Calvary Cemetery is a quiet resting place for over 4,000 burials.  The cemetery is divided into nine sections plus an infant section.  Opened in the 1800s, the four center sections with many historic memorials and monuments were known as the South East, North East, North West and South West sections until the 1970s when they were renamed Sections 1 through 4.   At that time Section 5 and 6 were added to the west and north of the original sections as well as a baby section on the south end of Section 5.  Sections 7, 8 and 9 were plotted in 2007.

 

Gravesites are available for sale.  Contact the Parish Office at 763-421-2471 for information.

 

The cemetery information below is from the Anoka County Historical Society, from “Silent Cities” copyright 1975 and St. Stephen’s Church, Anoka, MN.

 

According to a WPA survey completed in 1937, Calvary Cemetery began as a one acre plot that was consecrated and blessed by Father Earth, an early missionary in the Anoka area in 1856.  The area was known as Benton County then, since it was before the organization of Anoka County in 1857.

 

Ten years later, the cemetery was increased in size to eight acres and belonged to St. Stephen’s Catholic Church in Anoka.  At this time, the cemetery was in a “natural state” meaning it had no fence, walls, or orderly layout.  In 1873, Father McDearmont began an improvement plan where he got a fence put in and created an orderly layout for the cemetery roads and lots.

 

The rock wall that runs along the front side of the cemetery today was built by Alfred Keillor in the early years of the last century.  He was a stone mason and cement man in the area and we know he built this wall, but we are not sure of when exactly.  We do know he built the stone wall that runs along the yard of the house on South Ferry Street in 1912, so it is believed he built this one about that same time.  If the Keillor name is familiar, we can say yes, Alfred was a relative of Garrison Keillor of Prairie Home Companion fame.

 

The original plat for the cemetery dated 1866.  The cemetery is still active and burials happen here frequently.