Indianapolis’ Oldest Catholic Cemetery Exchanges Roads for Burial Spaces
The Archdiocese of Indianapolis is proud to announce that ground burial spaces are available once again at Holy Cross St. Joseph Cemetery. After nearly 25 years of being at full ground capacity, the city’s oldest Catholic cemetery has reclaimed roads within the cemetery to add more burial spaces.
“Families with historic ties to the cemetery now have an option to use the cemetery again,” said Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel, a long-time advocate for the cemeteries belonging to the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. “It’s a rebirth, an opportunity to reestablish a tradition that dates back to the cemetery’s founding in 1862.”
The new burial section is called St. John the Evangelist in honor of the burial section it sits next to. This new area features a “family companion ground burial” system which adds 260 new burial spaces. Each purchaser will be required to buy two spaces. This section was created by reclaiming a cemetery road which intersects with Kelly Street on the northern side of the cemetery.
Also in the works is a new community mausoleum that will sit at the head of the new burial section at the Kelly Street gate. This building will provide an addition 60 above-ground crypt spaces. Final details of this building’s design are still being developed.
“There are some unique features to this new in-ground burial system, said Tim Elson, the Executive Director for the Catholic Cemeteries. It is the driest form of ground burial because a drainage system is built in. So the water that typically destroys a vault over time will be removed, helping to sustain the cemetery.”
“Being able to expand ground burial without acquiring more land is another positive,” said Elson. “We will have less road maintenance in the future plus more burial space, that’s a win-win for the environment.”
St. John Cemetery was established four years after St. John Academy was built in downtown Indianapolis in 1858; Father Auguste Bessonies purchased 18 acres of land two miles south of the city for this new venture. The present rectory of St. John Parrish still stands at 126 W. Georgia Street. The now historic cemetery was first known as the “Irish Graveyard.”
Future sustainability of the site is a priority. “If this program is successful and we have every reason to believe it will be, there are more roads we can look to reclaim,” said Elson.
