|
"5th Street Cemetery"
Access to the cemetery was difficult for wheeled vehicles, requiring either a steep climb on an ungraded "road" (eventually an extension of 5th Street) or a round-about path to the west via "G" Street (now 3rd Avenue), where a wagon road intersected Snake River Avenue, then a popular residential area among Lewiston's wealthy. The cemetery's location suffered from a lack of a water supply and was located in an undeveloped city subdivision, although streets had been platted and lots surveyed for future use. Quite frankly, no one wanted to build nearby if water and power were unavailable. At least one church ledger (Episcopal) refers to three separate cemeteries existing in the area platted for funereal purposes: City, Masonic and Jewish. By 1875 a surveyed plat had been prepared and recorded with the county assessor. (See the Gallery.) A picket fence had been installed by 1880 to serve as a boundary, but the upkeep of the grounds was minimal. By the late 1880's the cemetery had fallen into such a poor state of repair that the local newspaper, The Lewiston Teller, complained in April 1889: "Gates in bad repair... Cattle frequently get in and destroy and knock down graves and tombstones." After much debate, a new site was chosen some 12 city block south. Platted by the spring of 1888, the new cemetery's first burial was for 22-year-old spinal meningitis victim Charles Wiggin on 14 November 1888. In March 1889, the first recorded exhumations took place. Idaho became the 43rd State in July 1890. |
The
earliest known burial in Lewiston took place in 1867, with the