‘Tales from Pioneers & Soldiers Cemetery’ Archives
Pillars will be rebuilt, new ones added; Thanks to “Pillars of the Community”
By Sue Hunter Weir It”'s taken about 15 years but the restoration of the Cemetery”'s historic fence is very close to completion. In April 2002, the Corcoran Neighborhood Organizations used $5,000 of their Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) funds to contract with McDonald & Mack, an architectural firm specializing in historic restoration, to review the conditions of the cemetery grounds and structures and to make recommendations about repairs and long-term maintenance. They found that the fence, especially the steel pickets and gates, was in need of some attention. The limestone pillars were in somewhat better shape but still needed a significant amount of work. The concrete bases under many the pillars have started to crumble as the ground beneath them has settled and some of the patching of the mortar between the stones was not always done well or with the correct materials. Given the size and complexity of the project work on the fence needed to be phased [...]
Vincent Price Extravaganza of Film at the Pioneers & Soldiers Cemetery
August 26, 2017--The Last Man on Earth September 9, 2017 The Conqueror Worm September 23, 2017 The Abominable Dr. Phibes
Fake News & catchy headlines sold papers & twisted history
“Don”'t judge a book by its cover;” likewise, don”'t judge a cemetery by it”'s grave markers or lack of markers. The best clues are in the card files of the Caretaker”'s Cottage. There is something about cemeteries that lends itself to fantastic stories. Over the years a number of these stories about people and events associated with Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery have appeared in the major local newspapers. Early papers certainly had as one of their missions the goal of informing their readers, but in order to do so they had to develop a following. In an age when the newspaper industry was thriving, competition was fierce, and there was nothing like an eye-catching headline or slightly-embellished story to sell papers, even if the story was not strictly speaking true. Those papers helped spread misinformation and shape people”'s perceptions about the cemetery. Some of those mistaken ideas are: No one [...]
