Edmonton Mount Pleasant Cemetery Tour

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Last Thursday I went on my second cemetery tour, this one being Mount Pleasant. Like the other one I went on, it’s old, beautiful and interesting in that “where’s Buffy staking the vamps now?”  kind of way.

Ok ok, Buffy aside-but really, look at all the time she spent in graveyards- what these really are local history tours.

The people that the history concerns just happen to be 6 feet under your sneakers.

I get more than a few people telling me I am creepy for going on these and I suppose there is a level of the macabre that is present.

Really, it is a history lesson. The people who built Edmonton, their stories and the parts they played are all in our local cemeteries.

And at least I am not the only creepy one, I had company.

I suppose maybe the fact that Melissa and I work together might explain why we are wired differently that most people.

Those “most people” being the slightly more mainstream ones who won’t be traipsing around cemeteries learning local history.

Bidwell A. Holgate was famous for developing the Highlands neighborhood during Edmonton’s first real estate boom. His company Magrath and Holgate built many landmark houses in the area that still exist today, like the Davidson Residence, the Morehouse Resdience, the Chown Residence, and the Magrath and Holgate mansions.

That, my friends, is one lovely area to go looking at houses in. The Magrath mansion is gorgeous.

This gravestone actually faces Highlands perfectly,and its set on a weird angle compared to the rest of the graves, it’s thought that it was done on purpose.

This was my favorite, he shot his wife. Can we say guilty husband? Who has to reiterate that it was “an very regrettable accident” for all eternity on a gravestone unless you are surely guilty of the crime?

The Rutherfords are famous in Edmonton, not only was he a premier but you can also visit their house and have a lovely tea. Which is next on Melissa and my agenda.

Mention scones in any sentence, combine that with tea and you will find me there.

Anyone interested in attending with us, most likely the afternoon tea, drop me an email! I will have to book a Sunday in advance for us.

Now sometimes I get a lot of visitors on this site who visit cemeteries on a far more frequent basis than I do, so I pose the question of what symbolism this has? The tour guide said it’s uncommon but there were a few diamonds in the cemetery.

A stone commemorating the victims of the Walter’s Mine disaster.

And a very unique headstone celebrating a certain woman’s life, she drove for ETS and must have loved it, that’s an ETS bus on her headstone!

And I’ll leave you on this note, when asked who we thought this person was famous for, Melissa leans over and says to me in a low voice:

“Ice cream?”

Sadly this Chapman was not the ice cream mogul, but Melissa, I like your style.