St. Marcus Commemorative Park

Overview and amenities for St. Marcus Commemorative Park

St. Marcus Commemorative Park sign
St. Marcus Commemorative Park sign by Mark Groth

Per the Webster University Library page and Ancestry.com:

St. Marcus Commemorative Park started as a German Evangelical cemetery established in 1856 and was closed in 1960. Old St. Marcus was dedicated on March 29, 1856 in the presence of Pastor G. W. Walls of St. Marcus Parish and Pastor L. Nollau of St. John Parish. The cemetery was divided into an area for family plots and an area for single graves ("commons"). Only a fraction of the cemetery's graves (2,290 of about 19,5000 total) were maintained through perpetual care, leading to neglect and dereliction. Burials were prohibited by the city after 1960. It was sold to the city in 1977 and afterwards turned into a walking park. Although many of the original grave markers remain, most have been destroyed through vandalism or have been moved. Money from the cemetery's sale was used to move graves under perpetual care to New St. Marcus Cemetery.

The park is a really a sloping piece of land at his highest point near Gravois and going down toward Ruth Drive to the east. The bike path that goes through here is winding with a tree lined border.

The park was rededicated to U.S. Veterans whose headstones were made into a walls and frame a small seating area.

Ordinance Year: 1977

Size: 25.50 acres

Park Type: City Park

Maintained By:
Parks Division

Related Neighborhoods
Boulevard Heights

Related Wards
Ward 2

Sports Grounds

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