Search Arizona Death Records

•  Arizona Newspapers, Full Search (1859-1977), 170 titles
•  Arizona Obituary Search, (1991-current)
•  Arizona Birth Records Database, (1859-1977)

 

Pioneer & Military Memorial Park (Old City Cemetery)
Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona

GPS: 33.445449, -112.090135

15th Ave & Jefferson St
Phoenix AZ

Published: Jun 20, 2016
Total records: 3,724

In order to visit this one you must make prior reservations so they can unlock the gates for you, due to previous damage and trash.

History

Pioneer & Military Memorial Park is the name given to a group of 7 cemeteries that occupied an 11 acre block of land, each operating independently. These cemeteries were in use between 1884 and 1914.

These cemeteries were not the first in Phoenix. Starting in the 1870s, burials took place in a plot of land between 5th and 7th avenues, and Jackson & Madison Streets, near the downtown train station. After Phoenix incorporated into a city, citizens complained that train passengers would get their first glimpse of the new city from a cemetery. Thus, in 1884, four fraternal organizations (IOOF, K of P, Masons, and AOUW) bought a plot of land at this new location. The east half of this land was used for their members while the west half was opened up for the public. Two more plots of land were added in 1897 and 1898 to create the Porter and Rosedale cemeteries located adjacent to the north.

Altogher, the seven cemeteries are: City Cemetery, IOOF, AOUW, Knights of Pythias, Masons, Porter, and Rosedale.

In 1914, a law went into effect that abolished burials inside city limits, thus closing the cemeteries from further use. They fell into disrepair. In 1938, a group of concerned citizens formed the "Pioneer Cemetery Association" to look after the seven cemeteries, but the group disbanded at the outset of World War II. In 1983, the group reformed. Then in May1988, the seven cemeteries were officially designated as, "Pioneer & Military Memorial Park".

Cemetery Records

Records published below were acquired from the Pioneer Cemetery Association's website, and reformatted to our styling specifications for easier reading. They were compiled from tombstone inscriptions and newspaper obituaries.

Surname Index:

• Surnames A-E
• Surnames F-L
• Surnames M-R
• Surnames S-Z
• Unknown Burials