This cemetery was the first burial grounds used for Protestant and English burials. A separate cemetery was used for Catholic and French burials.



On page 1420 of The City of Detroit Michigan 1701-1922, Vol. II, edited by Clarence M. Burton, William Stocking, and Gordon K. Miller and published by The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1922, the text reads:

"During the British regime in Detroit the space on the east side of Woodward avenue, bounded by Congress, Bates and Larned streets, was used as a burial place for the English and other Protestant residents. Some of these remains were removed when the English cemetery was granted by the governor and judges to the First Protestant Society for church purposes, and the others were removed from their resting place by the builders of the churches, which were erected on that block between 1820 and 1830."



"In 1760, Detroit changed to British control and the new people were mostly Protestants or non-Catholics. A new cemetery was opened near the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Larned Street for the English inhabitants, and the Catholics took another piece of land between this and Griswold Street. None of the streets named were opened at the time, but the street are called by their present names so that one can tell the approximate location… Additional ground, of about one acre, was given to the Protestants by order of the military department in 1797. This was on the northeast corner of Woodward Avenue and Larned Street, an enlargement of the old cemetery."



On page 1425 of the same book, the text reads:



"Although there were many Protestants in the city, they were of various denominations and each had its community or association. They use, in common, the burial ground on the northeast corner of Woodward Avenue and Larned Street and as they began to occupy this land before the streets were laid out, there can be no doubt that there were many burials within the lines of those streets that have never been disturbed and will be uncovered in the years to come."

"The First Protestant Society (now generally known as the First Presbyterian Church) was the first Protestant organization within the city. In 1817, this society applied for a donation of land for a church site and the governor and judges very generously gave them the Protestant cemetery, which was useless for any other purpose and the society cleared the space on the corner of the two streets above mentioned and erected the first church building in 1817. On the northerly, southerly and easterly sides the church was hemmed in by graves and surrounded by grave stones.