Columbia Cemetery

About Columbia Cemetery

Situated on 10.5 acres at Ninth and Pleasant Streets, the cemetery is a virtual "Who's Who" of early Boulder--a historic, cultural, and artistic resource containing the remains of many of our city's founders and pioneers.

Nearly 6,500 persons are interred in Columbia Cemetery. The gravestones are not simply inanimate markers of granite, marble, sandstone, or metal--they are narratives that reveal provocative clues about who we were, how we lived and died, what shaped our values, attitudes, and traditions. The epitaphs, engravings, and decorations provide insight into the minds and hearts of the hardy pioneers that have helped to make Boulder and Colorado what they are today.We invite you to browse the various links below to enhance your understanding and appreciation of Boulder's historic pioneer cemetery.

Click on a letter below to browse surnames beginning with that letter:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Cemetery Index courtesy of Boulder Genealogical Society.

News and Events

If These Stones Could Talk: Tales from Columbia Cemetery
now available!

A new book about Columbia Cemetery history includes information on its "residents," grave markers, symbolism, and preservation efforts. "If These Stones Could Talk: Tales from Columbia Cemetery" by Mary Reilly-McNellan, Lise Cook Cordsen, Judith Gould Dayhoff and Barbara Walsh Myers has been published by Johnson Books, and is available at the Boulder Bookstore and on Amazon. The book costs $21.95. Proceeds will benefit Columbia Cemetery preservation efforts.

Columbia Cemetery Upgrades/Enhancements

This project includes improvements to address critical deficiencies at Columbia Cemetery by rehabilitating headstones, constructing perimeter fencing and installing an efficient raw-water irrigation system utilizing adjacent ditch water. This project is critical to maintain existing valued park and cultural resources and improve water conservation efforts as part of the Columbia Cemetery Historic Landmark Site. More information will be posted when it is available.

Columbia Cemetery Conservation Corps received first “Betty Chronic Preservation in Action Award”

The City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Department’s Columbia Cemetery Conservation Corps received the first “Betty Chronic Preservation in Action Award” during Historic Boulder, Inc.’s annual membership meeting and awards ceremony. [Read more]

Columbia Cemetery's "Jane Doe" Identified as Dorothy Gay Howard

Previously unidentified murder victim whose gravestone reads, "Jane Doe, April 1954, age about 20 years" was recently determined by the Boulder County Sheriff's Office to be Dorothy Gay Howard, from Phoenix AZ. [More]