Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery is the oldest existing cemetery in Minneapolis. In 2003, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Sites, one of the few cemeteries in the state to be so honored.
This tour will cover the southeast quadrant of the cemetery where the earliest burials date to the 1850s and include transplanted New Englanders with ties to Minnesota’s anti-slavery movement. We will visit the graves of three War of 1812 veterans, and several Civil War Veterans. John Cheatham, the city’s first African-American firefighter is buried in this section as is Charles Christmas, Hennepin County’s first surveyor. And the tour wouldn’t be complete without a stop at the grave of Harry Hayward, the mastermind of Minnesota’s crime of the 19th century.
This tour walks less than ½ mile over lumpy terrain and is not ADA accessible.
The tour guide is Sue Hunter-Weir.