ASHCROFT CHINESE CEMETERY

The Ashcroft Chinese Cemetery was developed by the CPR over 100 years ago with 49 visible grave sites. The first Chinese burial in the public cemetery (end of Railway) seems to have taken place in the early 1940’s. Prior to that all Chinese seem to be buried in the cemetery, or their bodies shipped back to China. Some were also probably exhumed and sent back to China, a custom that was practiced at the time. In 2005 the Ashcroft/Cache Creek Rotary and Ashcroft and District Lions took on the task of cleaning the graveyard up.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JHYb_rq02g

Location: Barnes Rd, Ashcroft, BC V0K 1A0

LYTTON BC: HISTORIC GOLD RUSH PIONEER CEMETERY

Hidden beneath tall grasses, amid the pine needles, existed a gold mine of history. In 1986 the Village of Lytton BC decided to uncover and explore one of their greatest treasures. With little information to go by and no map of the cemetery or grave markers, it was a matter of mining history in the dark. Many volunteers helped clear the site revealing the markers. Every gravestone or marker was then examined in detail and individual photos were taken.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4SORxd0EcY

MEMORIAL GARDEN: PROVINCIAL HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE

Woodlands Memorial Garden is the resting place of 3,300 former residents of Woodlands Institution (Formerly Provincial Lunatic Asylum / Provincial Hospital for the Insane) and Essondale (a psychiatric hospital in Coquitlam).

When the cemetery was closed in 1977, the grave stones were ordered to be removed and reused as construction materials. Eventually, 620 headstones were recovered and incorporated into a series walls in the Garden. As the majority of headstones were never found, 34 black granite panels show the names of individuals noted in cemetery records.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm7i5n6vIEk

Fraser River Heritage Park & Pioneer Cemetery

The Fraser River Heritage Park is a large park located on the former site of St. Mary’s Indian Residential School in Mission, British Columbia. The park has a panoramic view of the Fraser River Valley and Mount Baker. Special features of the park are the foundations of the school buildings, the original orchard, the heritage plants in the rhododendron and rose gardens, and the reconstructed Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate (O.M.I.) Cemetery is currently on the eastern edge of the Fraser River Heritage Park and is still in use as a cemetery today. The cemetery was the burial site for the priests, nuns, and students of the St. Mary's Mission and Residential School and for many years it was the only cemetery in the area.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIMWp6uRCk0

Website: https://www.mission.ca/municipal-hall/departments/parks-recreation-and-culture/fraser-river-heritage-park/

Location: 7494 Mary St, Mission, BC V2V 6Y9

Abandoned Pet Cemetery

This now abandoned Pet Cemetery was founded by Daniel and Mary Blair. After their dog died, they decided to create this pet cemetery, believed to be the only one in BC, which opened in 1952. Nearly 700 pets have been buried here over the years, including dogs, cats, gerbils, birds, guinea pigs, and many other species. The cemetery is currently unmaintained,  unprotected and partially-overgrown, making many of the graves hard to spot.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo9dbijaX8g