St. Lawrence Protestant Burial Ground
Photo added by H. Presley

St. Lawrence Protestant Burial Ground

Also known as Old Burial Ground , Dorchester Cemetery , Dufferin Square Cemetery

Montreal, Montreal Region, Quebec, Canada

Add cemetery photos

About

  • Get directions Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    Coordinates: 45.50639, -73.56272
  • This cemetery is marked as being historical or removed.
  • No longer accepting burials
  • Cemetery ID:

Members have Contributed

Advertisement

Photos

St. Lawrence Protestant Burial Ground, later known as 'Old Burial Ground', 'Dorchester Cemetery', and 'Dufferin Square Cemetery', was opened in 1797 outside the walls of Old Montreal, after cemeteries inside had reached capacity. An 1846 city map shows it was located on the east side of Dorchester St (now Blvd Rene Levesque), between Rue Saint-Urbain to the north, St. George St (now Jeanne Mance St) to the south, and Lagauchetiere St (no longer exists) to the east. When St. Lawrence reached capacity in 1854 (with over 10,000 burials), it was abandoned and quickly reclaimed by nature, completely overgrown and derelict. In 1875, the city of Montreal turned the cemetery into Dufferin Square (a public park), by removing the headstones and grave markers, but leaving all the bodies below. (A small number of families moved the remains of their loved ones to the newly opened Mount Royal Cemetery beforehand, including that of prominent local figure James McGill, founder of McGill University.) In the 1970s, Dufferin Square (and the entire city block it was on) was expropriated to build the Guy-Favreau Complex (a federal government building). Any remains uncovered during construction were moved to Mount Royal Cemetery, but the vast majority of those 10,000 burials are still there, forgotten under the feet of current day Montreal.

St. Lawrence Protestant Burial Ground, later known as 'Old Burial Ground', 'Dorchester Cemetery', and 'Dufferin Square Cemetery', was opened in 1797 outside the walls of Old Montreal, after cemeteries inside had reached capacity. An 1846 city map shows it was located on the east side of Dorchester St (now Blvd Rene Levesque), between Rue Saint-Urbain to the north, St. George St (now Jeanne Mance St) to the south, and Lagauchetiere St (no longer exists) to the east. When St. Lawrence reached capacity in 1854 (with over 10,000 burials), it was abandoned and quickly reclaimed by nature, completely overgrown and derelict. In 1875, the city of Montreal turned the cemetery into Dufferin Square (a public park), by removing the headstones and grave markers, but leaving all the bodies below. (A small number of families moved the remains of their loved ones to the newly opened Mount Royal Cemetery beforehand, including that of prominent local figure James McGill, founder of McGill University.) In the 1970s, Dufferin Square (and the entire city block it was on) was expropriated to build the Guy-Favreau Complex (a federal government building). Any remains uncovered during construction were moved to Mount Royal Cemetery, but the vast majority of those 10,000 burials are still there, forgotten under the feet of current day Montreal.

Nearby cemeteries

New Protestant Burying Ground

Montreal, Montreal Region, Quebec, Canada

  • 3
  • 0%
  • 0%
0 mi
Protestant Congregation of Montreal Burying Ground

Montreal, Montreal Region, Quebec, Canada

  • 487
  • 8%
  • 0%
0.3 mi
Ancien cimetière des Pauvres Montréal

Montreal, Montreal Region, Quebec, Canada

  • 2
  • 0%
  • 50%
0.3 mi
Notre Dame Basilica

Montreal, Montreal Region, Quebec, Canada

  • 20
  • 15%
  • 0%
0.3 mi
  • Added: 24 Sep 2021
  • Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2738759