Croxton Memorial Park - Grants Pass, OR
N 42° 26.909 W 123° 18.905
10T E 474089 N 4699620
One of the most serene and beautiful parks in Grants Pass and home of a former pioneer cemetery.
Waymark Code: WMN7R5
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 01/14/2015
Views: 1
Located along Memorial Drive is the Croxton Memorial Park. In the center of the park is a large, concrete circle with a number of headstones imbedded in concrete. There are also two plaques that note the names of 90 individuals interred here. This park was once a cemetery for many years but neglect and vandalism over the years forced the city to convert this lot into a city park in 1975. The headstones of the surviving graves were imbedded in concrete to prevent further vandalism and damage. The fact that this burial ground is now a city park makes these pioneer graves seem out of place here since it is no longer known as a cemetery to the locals. Below the plaques mentioning the names interred here is a smaller plaque that reads:
IN 1867 THIS LAND WAS OFFICIALLY
GIVEN BY THOMAS CROXTON "FOR BURIAL
GROUND TO BE USED BY THE PUBLIC."
PIONEERS KNOWN TO BE INTERRED HERE ARE
(Names of Pioneers)
It should be noted that the graves of Thomas Croxton and his wife, Ella, were exhumed many years after their deaths and moved to the Masonic Cemetery on Foothill Blvd. No maps exist of the former Croxton Cemetery as it was laid out. Today there are concrete pads with picnic tables in several places. There are original lamp-posts, cast by Grants Pass Iron & Steel Works throughout the park and they still work.