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Thomas Greenway Cemetery

Crystal City, Manitoba, R0K, Canada

Formally Recognized: 1989/06/20

Contextual view, from the east, of the Thomas Greenway Cemetery, Crystal City, 2006. Thomas Greenway's modest in-ground marker lies between the grand stones at the back of the cemetery and the marker for his wife in the foreground.; Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 2006
Contextual View
View, from the east, of the Thomas Greenway Cemetery, Crystal City, 2006. These stones mark the graves of two sons of Thomas Greenway, Harry and Thomas A.; Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 2006
Detail View
No Image

Other Name(s)

Thomas Greenway Cemetery
Greenway Cemetery
Cimetière Greenway

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2007/01/18

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

The Thomas Greenway Cemetery is a small exposed site that overlooks cultivated fields and the gently meandering Crystal Creek north of Crystal City. The municipal designation applies to the approximately 1,200-square-metre cemetery, which contains four burials, (the first in 1898) and a pathway about 500 metres long that connects the site to the village.

Heritage Value

The Thomas Greenway Cemetery, a family burial site in an open agricultural setting, is the final resting place of Thomas Greenway (1838-1908), premier of Manitoba from 1888 to 1900, whose contributions included reform of the provincial school system, promotion of railway building and settlement, service as minister of agriculture and steps to reorganize provincial politics on a more partisan basis. In private life Greenway was a farmer recognized for his mixed prairie farming; a visionary who, with the help his family, established Crystal City in southwestern Manitoba; and an entrepreneur who financed the area's first newspaper, the `Rock Lake Herald'. Also buried at the site are Thomas's second wife, Emma Essery (1855-1934), and two sons, Harry Harvey (1879-1906) and Thomas A. (1867-98).

Source: Village of Crystal City By-law No. 9-89, June 20, 1989

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the site character of the Thomas Greenway Cemetery include:
- its location on the Prairie Home Stock Farm, the Greenway family homestead, with defined boundaries marked by a simple fence
- its elevated placement overlooking Crystal Creek with an unrestricted view
- the eastern and spatial orientation of the burials

Key elements define the site's function as a Greenway family memorial include:
- the burials of Greenway family members only
- the original headstones, including the flat humble markers for Thomas and Emma and the dominant, erect and elaborately engraved polished granite markers for Harry Harvey and Thomas A.

Recognition

Jurisdiction

Manitoba

Recognition Authority

Local Governments (MB)

Recognition Statute

Manitoba Historic Resources Act

Recognition Type

Municipal Heritage Site

Recognition Date

1989/06/20

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

n/a

Theme - Category and Type

Governing Canada
Politics and Political Processes
Peopling the Land
Settlement

Function - Category and Type

Current

Religion, Ritual and Funeral
Mortuary Site, Cemetery or Enclosure

Historic

Food Supply
Farm or Ranch

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

n/a

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

Village of Crystal City Box 310 26 South Railway Avenue East Crystal City MB R0K 0N0

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

M0023

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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