HISTORY OF EVERGREEN CEMETERY
Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado

Evergreen Cemetery was established around 1871 when General William Jackson Palmer founded Colorado Springs.

Originally, Evergreen Cemetery was alternately called Mt. Washington or Mountain Home Cemetery. The name became Evergreen Cemetery in April 1876 at which time General Palmer officially deeded 36.1 acres. In 1877 he gave an additional twelve acres. More land was acquired through the years and today Evergreen Cemetery encompasses 220 acres or more.

Early descriptions of Evergreen Cemetery indicated that a stand of Ponderosa pines, such as the ones seen in the Black Forest, covered the acreage giving it its name. The streets in the cemetery were given tree names and elms were planted to replace aging pines.

The Catholics started a cemetery as early as 1879 on a site north of Washington school. Because of friction over the land's ownership, the City of Colorado Springs deeded them a tract of land in the northeast section of Evergreen Cemetery.

To the south of Evergreen Cemetery, the Jewish population established a Sons of Israel Cemetery in 1904.

Blocks of land were purchased by fraternal orders. Free land was given to a number of veterans organizations.

Spaces were provided for Unknown Soldiers. Some early burials of Black Americans in the cemetery were segregated. However after World War II, when President Harry S. Truman declared that all citizens serving their country should receive equal treatment, this policy was discontinued.

Many prominent Colorado Springs founders reside here. Beneath the beautiful pine trees are the graves of General Palmer, Winfield Scott Stratton, Helen Hunt Jackson, and many other residents who made contributions to Colorado Springs during their lifetimes.

Evergreen Cemetery is the thirty-seventh property in Colorado Springs to have been placed on the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Register of Historic Places.