Pioneer-Mormon Cemetery

3301 State Street

1846

 

Designated Omaha Landmark: October 30, 1990.

Significant as the burial site of hundreds of Mormon settlers, the Pioneer-Mormon Cemetery is associated with Winter Quarters, an 1846-1848 settlement that served as a temporary "way-station" for Mormons as they   migrated west to Salt Lake City. With the exception of a commemorative marker in the nearby city park, the cemetery is the only visible reminder of the Mormon settlement.

Mormon church records indicate that 359 Mormon pioneers were buried at the site. Remnants of three of the graves are visible today, uncovered during the erection of a commemorative monument in 1936. The monument, a bronze statue by Salt Lake City artist Avard Fairbanks, depicts parents who have committed the body of an infant to the grave.

The graves of a number of Florence residents are also located in the cemetery. The community of Florence began to use the cemetery several years after the departure of the Mormons.