| Oakland Cemetery | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Graves in Oakland cemetery | |
 Interactive map of Oakland Cemetery | |
| Details | |
| Established | June 24, 1853 |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 44°58′10.488″N93°5′56.4″W / 44.96958000°N 93.099000°W /44.96958000; -93.099000 |
| Type | City |
| Owned by | Ramsey County |
| Size | 100 acres |
| No. of graves | 52,982 |
| Find a Grave | Oakland Cemetery |
Oakland Cemetery (founded June 24, 1853) is a historiccemetery in the center ofSaint Paul, Minnesota in the United States. At 100 acres (0.404 km2), it is one of the largest cemeteries in theMinneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area behindFort Snelling National Cemetery andCalvary Cemetery. According toMNopedia Oakland is Minnesota's oldest public cemetery.[1][2]
In 1850St. Paul Pioneer Press ownerJames M. Goodhue pushed for the creation of a public cemetery in Saint Paul, at the time the capital city of Minnesota. The city had few cemeteries or graveyards for its local citizens. The city also had few cemeteries for different sects of Christianity, non-religious people,paupers, and visitors to be buried.[1]
Oakland cemetery was founded on June 24, 1853 as anon-denominational city cemetery in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The location of Oakland Cemetery was sited upon 40 acres of densely wooded land and rolling hills two miles north of the Mississippi River.[3] The cemetery was slowly developed as more land was accrued over the subsequent 20 years. By 1873 landscape architectHorace Cleveland continued Oakland cemetery's park-like appearance. Cleveland was a resident of the Twin Cities at the time and had also designedSt. Anthony Park,Phalen Park, and theComo Park Zoo and Conservatory.[4][5]
Oakland's firstchapel was built in 1882, meanwhile thegroundskeeper's residence was built two years later in 1885. The chapel at Oakland was later replaced around 1924 with a new chapel. Amausoleum styled inneoclassical form was erected in the southeast corner of Oakland.[3] In 1905 Oakland absorbed the adjacent German Lutheran Zion Cemetery, bringing Oakland to roughly 100 acres of burial grounds. In 1911 a storage building for graveyard equipment and agreenhouse were installed. The greenhouse itself provided flowers for the cemetery lots via the Oakland Cemetery Association.[3] Today the cemetery remains heavily wooded withOakandElm trees. According to theFind a Grave database, Oakland includes roughly 53,983 graves as of November, 2025.[6]
Many of Minnesota and Saint Paul's founding citizens are buried at Oakland including governorsHenry Hastings Sibley andAlexander Ramsey; settler Augustus Larpenteur; educatorHarriet Bishop; philanthropist Amherst Wilder; and the merchant families of William Schurmeier, Charles Foote, and William Lindeke.[4][7]
"Soldiers Rest" is one of the largest sections of the cemetery. There are approximately 1,500 - 2,000 veteran soldiers buried in Oakland from a multitude of regiments, primarily soldiers who served inMinnesota civil war regiments.[4] According to the Ramsey County Historical Society Soldiers Rest was created in response to a request from the local Acker Post #21 of theGrand Army of the Republic (GAR), to donate ground for soldiers' graves. Oakland had responded by setting aside parcels of land dedicated to the free burial of honorably discharged soldiers who served in theAmerican Civil War.[3] In the late 1870's theQuartermaster General of the United States Army requested information from Oakland cemetery on soldiers who had died in service of the United States who were also buried at the cemetery. This was quickly followed-up in 1879 with a notice that all veterans or militiamen of any war service or conflict would be given headstones in the Oakland cemetery.[3] One notable soldier buried at Soldiers Rest is Private John Franklin "Frank" Donley (1836–1857). Donley served in Captain James Starkey'sSt. Paul Light Cavalrymilitia, Donley was killed in action fighting against theOjibwe near theSunrise River during the summer of 1857.[3] According to the bookEncyclopedia of Biography of Minnesota: History of Minnesota byCharles Eugene Flandrau, Donley is noted by Flandrau as being the first militiaman from the state of Minnesota who was killed in action.[8]
A section of Oakland is dedicated to theIndependent Order of Odd Fellows, as well as variousfraternal orders andfriendly societies including theFreemasons, theKnights of Pythias, and theAncient Order of United Workmen among many others.
In 1868 the Firemen's Association of Saint Paul purchased a large plot of land in the cemetery for the burial offirefighter members who were killed while fighting fires. Later in 1890, the Board of Fire Commissioners appointed a committee to erect a bronze memorial statue which would be dedicated to Saint Paul firemen at the nearby CatholicCalvary Cemetery. Calvary declined the offer and the memorial was instead placed at Oakland cemetery.[3]
To accentuate the "public" aspect as a public cemetery, many poorer families and people ofRamsey County, Minnesota were allowed to be buried in certain sections of Oakland, often calledpotter's field or pauper's graves at the time.[3] The city of Saint Paul originally purchased a plot of land at Oakland for $240. However, the need for poorer families to afford graves was much higher than what the city had originally anticipated. The Board of Ramsey County Commissioners later purchase one acre of land in Oakland for $300 which would be designated as the "County Acre" and used for poorer citizens.[3]
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