The black granite headstone reads:
JOHNSTON (on beveled top)
[WoW Logo]
Homer S. Johnston
1856 - 1910
Here Lies A Woodmen of the World
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""Masonic Placer Cemetery - Valley Brook Cemetery (hereafter referred to as Valley Brook Cemetery) is locally significant under Criterion A in the area of Exploration and Settlement for its association with the development of the Town of Breckenridge and Summit County. Additionally, it is locally significant under Criterion B in the area of Conservation as the final resting place for Edwin Carter, a naturalist whose life work to study and preserve each type of wildlife found in Colorado's Rocky Mountains was significant to Breckenridge and the State of Colorado. Finally, it is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of Landscape Architecture for its designed plan in the form of a Celtic cross." (from (
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"The 1882 Masonic Placer Cemetery - Valley Brook Cemetery has an unusual Celtic cross design and is important for its association with the development of the Town of Breckenridge and Summit County. Additionally, it is the final resting place for Edwin Carter, a naturalist whose life work to study and preserve each type of wildlife found in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains was important to Breckenridge and Colorado." (from (
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The NRHP form may be found at "Masonic Placer Cemetery - Valley Brook Cemetery (hereafter referred to as Valley Brook Cemetery) is locally significant under Criterion A in the area of Exploration and Settlement for its association with the development of the Town of Breckenridge and Summit County. Additionally, it is locally significant under Criterion B in the area of Conservation as the final resting place for Edwin Carter, a naturalist whose life work to study and preserve each type of wildlife found in Colorado's Rocky Mountains was significant to Breckenridge and the State of Colorado. Finally, it is locally significant under Criterion C in the area of Landscape Architecture for its designed plan in the form of a Celtic cross." (from (
visit link) )
"The 1882 Masonic Placer Cemetery - Valley Brook Cemetery has an unusual Celtic cross design and is important for its association with the development of the Town of Breckenridge and Summit County. Additionally, it is the final resting place for Edwin Carter, a naturalist whose life work to study and preserve each type of wildlife found in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains was important to Breckenridge and Colorado." (from (
visit link) )
The NRHP form may be found at (
visit link) or (
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"Masonic Placer Cemetery - Valley Brook Cemetery (hereafter referred to as Valley Brook Cemetery) encompasses approximately twenty acres of flat to gradually sloping forested terrain. Two-thirds of the cemetery is within the Breckenridge town limits; the remainder is outside the town boundary. Civil engineer A.C. Whipple designed and platted Valley Brook Cemetery in 1882. The overall plan is characteristic of the Rocky Mountain garden cemetery movement, but the Celtic cross design is unusual. Lodgepole and limber pines, Engelmann spruce, quaking aspen, potentilla, elderberry, Wood's rose, and native grasses cover the site, while natural drainages and six unlined, abandoned ditches traverse it. The only entrance to Valley Brook Cemetery is under a 20' wide x 15' tall arch constructed in 1938. The site is marked by an iron and barbed wire fence around most of its boundary. The one-story, one-room sexton's building, constructed in 1901, is the only building on the property. Valley Brook Cemetery can accommodate up to an estimated 5,000 burials, though only about 3,000 souls have been interred to date. The burial plots are oriented east-west. Individual burial sites measure 4' x 1 0 ' while family plots measure 20' x 20 ' and accommodate up to ten burials. A small portion of plots are marked with iron or wood fences, or concrete or stone coping. A vast majority of the grave markers are modest in size, generally maintaining the overall setting within the natural mountain landscape. Preferred materials for markers are sandstone and marble; also present are naturally-shaped boulders and concrete." (from (
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A partial cemetery index may be found at (
visit link) .
"Masonic Placer Cemetery - Valley Brook Cemetery (hereafter referred to as Valley Brook Cemetery) encompasses approximately twenty acres of flat to gradually sloping forested terrain. Two-thirds of the cemetery is within the Breckenridge town limits; the remainder is outside the town boundary. Civil engineer A.C. Whipple designed and platted Valley Brook Cemetery in 1882. The overall plan is characteristic of the Rocky Mountain garden cemetery movement, but the Celtic cross design is unusual. Lodgepole and limber pines, Engelmann spruce, quaking aspen, potentilla, elderberry, Wood's rose, and native grasses cover the site, while natural drainages and six unlined, abandoned ditches traverse it. The only entrance to Valley Brook Cemetery is under a 20' wide x 15' tall arch constructed in 1938. The site is marked by an iron and barbed wire fence around most of its boundary. The one-story, one-room sexton's building, constructed in 1901, is the only building on the property. Valley Brook Cemetery can accommodate up to an estimated 5,000 burials, though only about 3,000 souls have been interred to date. The burial plots are oriented east-west. Individual burial sites measure 4' x 1 0 ' while family plots measure 20' x 20 ' and accommodate up to ten burials. A small portion of plots are marked with iron or wood fences, or concrete or stone coping. A vast majority of the grave markers are modest in size, generally maintaining the overall setting within the natural mountain landscape. Preferred materials for markers are sandstone and marble; also present are naturally-shaped boulders and concrete." (from (
visit link) )
A partial cemetery index may be found at (
visit link) .