Greenwood Cemetery

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 25, 2025

1. Greenwood Cemetery Marker

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From the National Register Nomination prepared by Charise Boomsma & Jennifer Wendler Lovell, 1/30/2013:
Greenwood Cemetery is significant for its association with Cañon City's exploration and settlement, and early social history. The cemetery is also significant for its representative collection of funerary art

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 25, 2025

2. Greenwood Cemetery Marker

of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As Cañon City's oldest cemetery, Greenwood Cemetery is an important part of the cultural landscape and is the final resting place of many pioneer settlers, as well as those significant in the history and development of the city. These include war veterans, businessmen, miners, politicians, ranchers, Colorado State Penitentiary prisoners, and key members of local social and fraternal organizations.
Greenwood Cemetery is the burial place of many of Cañon City's earliest settlers, such as Benjamin Griffin and William H. McClure, who arrived with their families in the early 1860s. Many influential figures in the development of Cañon City are also buried at Greenwood Cemetery, such as William T. Bridwell, who was a prime stockholder in the Cañon City and Cripple Creek Toll Road Company, and Guy Hardy, who secured a thousand acres of park land for Cañon City and published the Canon City Record for 52 years. A number of Cañon City's earliest business owners and those responsible for the construction of many of Cañon City's historic commercial buildings are also buried in the cemetery.
Also interred

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 25, 2025

3. Greenwood Cemetery Marker

Looking north from the center east-west cemetery aisle.

at the site are prominent Civil War veterans who made Cañon City their home following their service. Greenwood Cemetery contains distinct sections for both Union and Confederate veterans. According to Tom Monaco, a representative of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and member of the Greenwood Cemetery Committee, the existence of a separate Confederate burial section is unique in Colorado. Typically, Confederate graves are scattered throughout the cemeteries. Although some of the Confederate soldiers buried at Greenwood Cemetery once lived in Cañon City, many lived in other towns, such as Salida, Texas Creek and Cripple Creek, and had requested to be brought to Greenwood Cemetery upon their death so that they would be buried in the dedicated Confederate burial section.
Several well-known local and state politicians were laid to rest at Greenwood Cemetery. These include Cañon City's first mayor George Rockafellow and his son, Benjamin Franklin Rockafellow, who was Cañon City's fourth mayor. Also buried at the cemetery are James H. Peabody, who served in several local government positions before becoming Colorado's Governor from 1903-1905,

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 25, 2025

4. Greenwood Cemetery

Looking northwest across the cemetery from near the historical marker.
From the National Register Nomination:  The foothills of the Rocky Mountains form the dramatic backdrop of the cemetery to the west.

and James Clelland, a senator in Colorado's first senate in 1877.
With the establishment of the prison in Cañon City in 1871, the institution became a significant factor in the city's economic development. The prison also became an important part of Cañon City's social history. Although the majority of Cañon City's population had no contact with the prisoners, the stories of infamous inmates provided some of the city's most colorful history. Those inmates whose bodies were not claimed after death were buried at Greenwood Cemetery in one of two large sections dedicated to prisoners. These include Joseph Arridy, who was pardoned 72 years after his execution, and William Cody Kelley, the first person in Colorado to be executed in the gas chamber.
The number of burials at the site is estimated at 4,000, although there are a number of graves that are unmarked. The earliest marked burial in the cemetery is dated 1865. The cemetery's headstones, grave enclosures, fencing, and natural landscape have remained largely intact and provide an excellent example of late 19th and early 20th century funerary art, burial practices, and cemetery design.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 25, 2025

5. Greenwood Cemetery Gate

Looking west from South 1st Street.
From the National Register Nomination:  The main entrance, located on the east side of the cemetery along South 1st Street, provides the only vehicular access to the cemetery. A stock gate and cattle guard at the main entrance were removed and replaced with a new gate and archway sign in 2001. The gate features an incised sheet metal panel depicting a covered wagon and the archway above reads “GREENWOOD CEMETERY.” The gate is flanked by random course battered stone piers that may be original to the site.

The majority of the cemetery's sections are used for general burials and contain individual and family plots. There are, however, a number of sections that are designated for burial of those affiliated with certain fraternal, military, social or religious groups. These designated areas include two large sections at the northwest and southwest comers of the cemetery that were reserved for Colorado State Penitentiary inmates. Burials began in the northwest prisoner section in 1871 and the southwest section was opened for burials in 1933. These sections were historically known as "Woodpecker Hill" because their original wooden slab grave markers attracted the birds once they began to decay. The wooden slab markers were replaced in the 1960s with small metal plates stamped out in the prison's license plate plant.
One of the largest designated sections in the cemetery is demarcated on the historic map as "Paupers Field and Catholics". There are approximately 450 known burials in this section, with the first occurring in 1878. Many of Cañon City's indigent people, transient workers, and those who died without family or means are buried in

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Pauper's Field.

Excerpt:  As Cañon City’s oldest cemetery, Greenwood Cemetery is the final resting place for some of the city’s earliest and most influential settlers, including those involved in shaping the local economy, politics and culture. The individuals and families buried in Greenwood represent a cross-section of early Cañon City development and society, including miners, politicians, prisoners, religious leaders, socialites, fraternal members, veterans and businesspeople. Greenwood Cemetery also contains significant examples of funerary art that embody the prevalent aesthetic characteristics of traditional funerary design from 1876-1963, which often also reflect each individuals’ fraternal associations, spiritual beliefs, military service and social position.