Municipality of Sioux Lookout

Sioux Lookout has a history filled with stories of working families who came to be here for many different reasons. Most were men who began their careers with the railroad and moved their families here once they were established. As with development in any new area, the establishment of a "town" or population base, is very quickly followed by the designation of a specific area in which to create a cemetery. It is the natural order of life.

Umfreville’s exploration party passed through this area in 1784 but it was not until 1906, with the first survey parties for the Canadian National Railway, that people decided to stay. This initial survey party was quickly followed by an influx of construction and bush workers. The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway arrived in 1909.

In 1910 our town site was named "Graham" by Sir Wilfred Laurier to honour his then Minister of Railroads. It was in this same year that St. Mary’s Anglican Church was established in this community.

On January 1st, 1912 the Municipality was incorporated by order of the Ontario Municipal Board as the "Town of Sioux Lookout" so named after a high point of land used by the Ojibway as a lookout area for enemies and travellers in the area. In this year, St. Andrews United Church was also established.

Sacred Heart Church was established in 1913 after years of missionary priests visiting the area established a need.

The Local Genealogical Club has established that there were earlier cemeteries used in Sioux Lookout, not located in the areas we use today.

Both Northway and Sacred Heart Cemeteries first recorded burials were in 1918; two in Northway and two in Sacred Heart. Hillcrest was established much later with it’s first interment taking place in 1970.

As is the case in many communities, Sioux Lookout was not exempt from fires. In 1941 a fire destroyed the Town Hall, and consequently the burial records. From what we gather, a group of local townspeople performed a walk about and tried to reconstruct the records as best they could. Any graves that were not marked by a head stone were entered according to peoples memories of who they thought was buried there. This was hit and miss at best, and account for many of the "unknown" graves that we have today.

Sioux Lookout has three active cemeteries; Sacred Heart, Northway and Hillcrest which are comprised of approximately 12 acres of land. Sacred Heart and Northway are located on the north side of Town on the West Point Cove Road, and Hillcrest is located on the south side of town on Hillcrest Drive behind the Sunset Inn.

Sacred Heart

At approximately three acres, Sacred Heart is traditionally recognized as the "Catholic" cemetery, however any religious denomination can be buried within these grounds. Sacred Heart is marked with a distinctive cross on the west side at the peak of the hill.

Sacred Heart has many surrounds (concrete perimeters around the plot) which were placed on the graves by family members. Traditionally, family plots were sold in groups of four and the surrounds were placed on the perimeter.

Northway

Northway Cemetery is distinctive in that it contains three separate areas within it’s boundaries. Total acreage of Northway is approximately 3.5 acres. The original section is located in the southern most portion and runs parallel with West Point Cove Road. This portion is approximately 1.2 acres and has a great deal of local history contained within it’s boundaries. Some of the headstones in this section are quite remarkable and very unique. There are also many surrounds located in this section.

The large white building on the west of the middle portion is Northway’s most distinctive feature and is known as "The Vault". This building was used to house the deceased who had passed away in the winter. The ground was simply too frozen to dig by hand, so the bodies were stored until spring when the interments were performed, usually in April or May. The Vault was used right up until 1959. At times there were as many as 21 bodies in storage at once. This building is now used for storage of maintenance equipment for the grounds crew.

Hillcrest

Hillcrest is our youngest cemetery at 31 years old. The first interment in Hillcrest took place on September 18th, 1970. When Hillcrest was developed it was to be different than the other cemeteries in that there was going to be no upright monuments within the grounds. Obviously some where along the way, this thought process changed as the majority of headstones in Hillcrest are upright. Hillcrest contains different sizes of plots and also contains a section strictly for cremations. The most significant feature in Hillcrest is the iron gate at the front entrance which was installed around 1993. This was completed not only as beautification project, but to keep the snowmobiles from entering the grounds in the winter months.