Georgetown Cemetery

Many early pioneer cemeteries were located on lands which had been donated to the towns they served while others were located in areas of beauty. The Alvarado Georgetown Cemetery is one such cemetery.

The original Georgetown, Colorado (another early mining town located in the mountains west of Denver) cemetery was located on the south shore of Georgetown Lake just outside of town. In the early 1970's it was combined with the Alvarado Masonic cemetery located five miles to the east. The Alvarado Cemetery is on the crest of a hill with an expansive view of the Continental Divide towards the west.

The Alvarado cemetery was established in 1865. Most of the tombstones are the old originals. While others are new ones which were replacements for originals lost when the town cemetery was moved to this location.

This cemetery offered quite a variety of tombstones, from the very plain to some that were quite large and elaborate. And like so many other cemeteries we have visited, there were a great number of children's graves.

There are over 1,000 graves in the cemetery and it is still in use. It encompasses many acres, most of which are covered in native grasses. Aspen and Evergreens have begun to reclaim much of the southern portion of the cemetery. And many tombstones are obscured by the brush.

But the graves located in the Aspen Groves have a certain sense of peace and grace about them. I can only imagine how picturesque the area is when the Aspen are in their Autumn glory. The day we were there, the wind was blowing down the canyon causing the trees to whisper and murmur, almost as if the souls of the departed were speaking to us. Trying to tell us their story.