Pioneer Memorial Cemetery, Cincinnati, historic pioneer cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Pioneer Memorial Cemetery is the oldest burial ground in Cincinnati, Ohio, established around 1790 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The roughly 2.2-acre site features simple headstones, scattered trees, and grass, with a tall Corinthian column monument brought from a 1856 Post Office building placed here in 1888.
The cemetery was established around 1790 when Columbia Baptist Church was founded, making it the oldest remaining landmark from the area's first European settlement. Archaeological studies in 1958 revealed that the site once lay within a Native American village from the Woodland period, which existed centuries before European arrival.
The cemetery served as a gathering place where families came to remember their loved ones and feel connected to Cincinnati's roots. The simple markers and quiet grounds show how early settlers honored their dead and maintained bonds with their community heritage.
The cemetery is open to the public and provides a quiet setting for walking and exploring Cincinnati's early history at your own pace. Located north of Davis Lane near Lunken Airport, it works best as a leisurely visit where you can read the grave markers and take in the peaceful surroundings.
The cemetery sits on land that once held a Woodland period Native American village, a reminder that people lived here for centuries before Europeans arrived. No excavations have been done here to protect the archaeological site, so the remains of that earlier settlement still rest beneath the graves.
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