Description of Historic Place

St. Joseph's Cemetery is a Municipal Heritage Property located approximately 10 kilometres south of the Village of Lestock in the Rural Municipality of Kellross No. 247. Situated on a quarter section of land, the property features a cemetery established in 1909 surrounded by a metal fence.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of St. Joseph's Cemetery lies in its association with the area's pioneers. Hungarian and Slavic families who settled in the area worked together to establish St. Joseph's congregation. A cemetery was established in 1909 and a church and hall were built the following year on land donated by a local parishioner. The property was the religious and social hub of Hungarian and Slavic families in the vicinity until the church and hall were removed in the 1960s. The cemetery still remains a local landmark and provides a tangible link to many of the area's early settlers.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Kellross No. 247 Bylaw #2005-03.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of St. Joseph's Cemetery resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that commemorate the area's pioneers such as the commemorative bell and plaque, religious crosses and Cyrillic characters used on many grave covers, and the property's location on its original site;
-those elements that reflect the property's use as a mortuary site, including the formal arrangement of internments and grave markers, the signage on the metal gate, and the metal fence which separates the cemetery from surrounding agricultural land.