The Park City Museum wants to introduce local residents and visitors to the dead.

The nonprofit historical society will do that this summer through the Historic Glenwood Cemetery tours that will start at 10:30 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday from June 25 through Aug. 30, said Education Director Diane Knispel.

“We have done tons of research about those who are buried there, so we’ve gotten a good sense of who is there,” she said. “We also continue doing the research to find more families and more stories to tell about those families.”

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Groups of up to 15 can register by visiting parkcityhistory.org/events, and the cost is $15 per person, according to Knipsel.

The amount of people who were killed in accidents or died from mining consumption of the lungs and the suffering they went through is mind boggling.” Diane Knispel, Park City Museum education director

“There will be no tour on the Fourth of July,” she said. “It’s too difficult to do because of the amount of people in town. So, we will shift the tours that week to the Wednesday prior and the Friday following.”
In addition, the museum will host two Saturday tours, Knispel said.

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“Those will be held July 13 and Aug. 10 because we know some people can’t attend during the week,” she said. 

Once registered, groups will meet a museum docent at the cemetery gate, located at 401 Silver King Drive.

“We’ll then take the people through the cemetery and tell the stories of those who are buried there,” she said. “We recommend that people bring a water bottle, wear sunscreen and wear comfortable walking shoes. It gets hot, and the ground is really rocky at times. So we try to keep on the paths as much as possible, so people don’t trip and fall.”

Many of the stories told are about miners, Knipsel said. 

“Hearing their stories is fascinating because mining wasn’t an easy job,” she said. “While they got paid between $3 to $5 a day, which was considered pretty good back then, the amount of people who were killed in accidents or died from mining consumption of the lungs and the suffering they went through is mind boggling.”

Tour guides will also talk about the history of the cemetery, which is listed on the Registry of National Historic Places, Knispel said.

“The cemetery was established by local fraternal orders who wanted to make sure the miners had benefits in case they got sick or died, because mine owners didn’t offer that,” she said.
“So the Masons, Elks and others stepped up, and the miners could choose which order they wanted to be buried under.”

If a miner died, the selected fraternity order would pay for the funeral and burial and also provide money that would help widows and children, Knispel said.

“Each of the organizations have a plot in the cemetery, which is about five acres big, and we have 949 people who are listed as being buried in these plots,” she said.

Historic documents record that 154 of the buried are children who were less than a year old — born stillborn or premature, and 118 were older than one year-old but younger than 6 years old. In addition, 334 of the children buried in the cemetery were younger than 18.

In addition to miners and their families, other community members are buried in the Glenwood, Knispel said.

“Some were mercantile owners, and others were farmers,” she said. “That’s because they were all connected with mining. Merchants sold items to miners. Farmers provided food for the grocery store that sold produce and milk to the miners.”

One of the things that makes Knispel happy is seeing family members of those who are buried in the cemetery register and join the tours.

“We have multiple families who have reached out to us,” she said. “That’s why we’re very particular with the information we keep for these tours. We have updated or rewritten the scripts because family members have found inaccuracies. So, we encourage descendants to call the museum, and we’ll work out a time to talk about their family history.”

People who take the tours will notice that the Glenwood is not as manicured like other cemeteries, Knispel said.

“We only mow the grass once a year because it’s a wildlife and nature sanctuary,” she said. “So, we let the grasses and wildflowers grow so they are able to seed. And I think that adds to the ambiance. We have also seen moose, different species of birds including owls, and other wildlife during the tours.”

To maintain the cemetery and ensure its safety, the Park City Museum works with a preservation company who makes a two-week visit each year to inspect the headstones and monuments.

“They make sure the stones are stable and won’t fall, and they also make sure people can see the grave stones,” she said. “Many are at ground level, and they clear the grass around the stones.”

The tours will usually be held rain or shine, but there are exceptions, Knispel said.

“We usually don’t cancel unless it is pouring and we’re concerned about lightning,” she said. “If that happens, then we will contact people ahead of time and let people know what we’re thinking.”