“I really enjoyed working at the cemetery this summer. I learned so much about how tombstones are maintained and the history behind them!” Roger Collins, Student/Employee at Missouri Western State University
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ABOUT KING HILL CEMETERY RESTORATION AND PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION
The King Hill Cemetery Restoration and Preservation Association (KHCRPA) was formally organized on October 10, 2023 as a not-for-profit corporation for the purpose of providing assistance in the restoration and preservation of the New King Hill Cemetery and to foster and to preserve the knowledge and heritage of the cemetery.
The New King Hill Cemetery is an active cemetery, providing for the burial of the dead or any legal disposition of human remains. The cemetery is made available for public use. The cemetery is not classified as a perpetual care cemetery. However, the New King Hill Cemetery Association, a benevolent corporation, established October 11, 1948, does basic maintenance and upkeep of the cemetery and manages the day-to-day operations of the cemetery.
ABOUT THE KING HILL/NEW KING HILL CEMETERY ASSOCIATIONS
The oldest known grave that has been documented on the property of what is today known as the New King Hill Cemetery is dated 1840. Peter Rhudy pre-empted the property circa 1845. Early Buchanan County Missouri pioneer families started settling the area as soon as the Platte Purchase became official after 1837. Most likely Rhudy allowed his friends and neighbors to bury their loved ones high atop the hill of his property because their homesteads surrounding the cemetery were not far from the Missouri River and creeks prone to flooding. The Rhudy wooded hilltop parcel of land would be a peaceful resting place.
The first mention of a cemetery in a real estate transaction was in March 1868, when Joseph A Brown and Thomas A Brown, son and father respectively, sold part of the property with the exception of 16.75 acres conveyed to Levi Jones and others of a cemetery.
The King Hill Cemetery is most likely the oldest public cemetery in Buchanan County, MO.
NOTICE!
CEMETERY MAINTENANCE GUIDELINES
Grave decorations must not interfere with the cemetery operation and maintenance. Examples: mowing, weeding, & grave digging.
CEMETERY CLEANUP & RESTORATION has been established.
Please remove old flowers & decorations by the 1st Monday in March and the Monday following Memorial Day.
Grave decorations may be moved if they interfere with cemetery operations & maintenance. If you wish to save your decorations, be sure to remove them prior to clean up start dates.
Thank you for helping!
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