Iowa Hill Protestant Cemetery
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Established in the 1850's, this is actually not the original cemetery. That was located near the Schwab house in "downtown" Iowa Hill. From Iowa Hill: the Town that Refused to Die by Mary Parker: "The oldest cemetery known was in the yard of the Schwab home, and there was evidence of several graves bordered with small rocks. At one time there was a white marble headstone that read: To the memory of Joseph Dunagan--who died at Iowa Hill--July 30, 1855, aged 24 years, formerly of Walker County, GA.
"Herb Macy Sr. remembers, 'There were graves where the Schwab's home was built (across from where the present store is located). When we were kids we would go down there and play. There were 10 that I could remember. Some were good stones and some were wood rotting away and I remember the big white stone as big as a square table.' " When Stewart Schwab built the house, he took a bulldozer and pushed all of the remaining stones into the canyon and buried them. This wasn't the first time of troubles for the old cemetery. In 1859, Adelia Hill blocked off the public highway from Iowa Hill to Bird's Flat thus cutting off communication with the cemetery where their relatives were buried. The top photo on the left is of the cemetery in the 1890's. The white picket fence no longer survives, and many of the gravestones are also gone. The lower photo shows the current kiosk. |
St. Dominic's Catholic Cemetery (originally called St. Joseph's)
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St. Dominic's Cemetery, originally called St. Joseph's, was also the location of the Catholic Church in Iowa Hill. Burials list from 1860. There is one child buried in 1859, along with a brother buried in 1860. Possibly that child was moved there when his brother was buried, or he may have been buried there in anticipation of the church soon to be built there.
The first Catholic priest to visit the area was probably Father Shanhan, pastor of Nevada City, in 1852 or the spring of 1853, when he took the trail leading through Grass Valley, Illinoistown, and Iowa Hill and said Mass for the first time in Foresthill. In 1854, Father Peter Deyaert was appointed to care for the northern mines. His records show that he visited and had baptisms in "Iowa Town" in November 1854. Father Thomas Dalton, of Grass Valley, who succeeded Father Deyaert, attended to the Iowa Hill area from 1855. In October of that year, His Grace, Archbishop Allemaney of San Francisco, and Father Dalton visited Iowa Hill to celebrate Mass, preach, and administer the Sacrament of Confirmation at Adelia (Mrs. J. T.) Hill's home. He gave Confirmation to about five Iowa Hill residents and administered to "a pretty good concourse of people." There was a growing need for the faithful in the area to have their own church, and in 1859 a meeting was held at the home of James Gleeson to plan a Catholic Church. A committee was appointed for collecting funds, which included members from Mineral Bar, Iowa Hill, Roach Hill, Monona Flat, Wolverine, Strawberry Flat, Grizzly Flat, Wisconsin Hill, Elizabethtown, and Damascas. Sealed proposals were received from carpenters and builders at Samuel N. Calvin's office in Iowa Hill. Proposals were addressed to James Gleeson, Secretary of the Committee for the erection of the Catholic Church. George W. Currier got the contract, which was to be completed by June 1, 1860. A parcel of land upon the hill known as "Banjo Hill" was recorded on 10 May 1860 from J. P. Hansen to His Grace the Most Reverend Joseph Sadoc Alemany, Archbishop of the Diocese of San Francisco, and was acquired for $10.00 consideration (Placer County Deeds, Book F, page 196). The church, called St. Joseph's, was "one of the principle ornaments of the town" and was tended from Grass Valley by Father Dalton who was instrumental in its completion and who dedicated it on June 20, 1860. The bell, purchased by Irish immigrants, could be heard from the Chicago Park area to Auburn. In 1864, the church blew down and was rebuilt. From 1865 through 1878 it was tended once a month from Foresthill. Iowa Hill became a Mission of Auburn in 1895, as was Foresthill. Iowa Hill remained a mission of Auburn at least through 1930. The church was never rebuilt after being partially destroyed by the fire that swept through the town on September 29, 1920. The church blew down a final time (date unknown), and the boards were used in other Iowa Hill homes. After 1932, Iowa Hill is no longer recorded in the Hoffman's Catholic Directly, and Colfax becomes St. Dominic's with Father F. McEnany as pastor. It wasn't possible to determine when or why St. Joseph's Cemetery became known as St. Dominic's. Possibly it was under the care of the Colfax St. Dominic's Church at one time (although it is not currently). The bell from St. Joseph's Church was stored at the Colfax St. Dominic's for safekeeping and is now mounted in front of the church there. (Special thanks to Sharon and Bob Balmain for their extensive research, as well as to Robin Yonash for this compilation.) |
Iowa Hill Chinese Cemetery
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From the Iowa Hill Sesuicentennial Journal of Memories Road Tour by Sharon Balmain: "During the gold rush one of the customs of the Chinese was to exhume the remains of deceased friends and relatives and return them to their homeland. Companies were formed at great expense by the Chinese whose sole purpose was to search out and disinter the remains of the deceased. In 1858, newspaper articles estimated that since 1849, approximately 10,000 deceased Chinese had been sent back to their homeland. Costs for transporting the remains to China were $100 each.
"Adjacent to the Chinese burial ground is a rockwork firepit where feasts and celebrations were held in honor of the deceased. It is still possible to see swales in the earth from the exhumed graves." |
Iowa Hill Divide Cemetery
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This virtual cemetery is for people known to be buried historically in the area of Iowa Hill, Placer County, California but who cannot be determined to have been interred in one of the official cemeteries. On the map, the Iowa Hill Divide roughly follows Iowa Hill Road and includes the historic gold-mining-era towns of Iowa Hill, Independence Hill, Roach Hill, Bird's Flat, Monona Flat, Grizzly Flat and Damascus. Also nearby were Elizabethtown and Wisconsin Hill. There were also numerous mines where miners were sometimes interred by landslides and other disasters. Iowa Hill is the only town still in existence and all of the major mines are closed.
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