The Littleton Cemetery is a peaceful, serene and beautiful resting place for residents of the area. It is located on Prince Street just a half mile south of the main street of Littleton, Colorado near the western boundary of Arapahoe County. The foothills of the Rocky Mountains can be clearly seen from the grounds of the cemetery and today many of the headstones face the west and witness the beautiful sunsets over the "hills."

Although this little corner of the world has grown tremendously over the last several decades, the Littleton Cemetery looks the same as it did nearly 50 years ago. Lovely mature trees provide shade to the well-maintained lawn. The iron arch with the words "Littleton Cemetery" clearly show the entrance.

The Littleton Cemetery was established in the 1860's. Caretakers believe that burials began before the first records were kept and, in fact, before it was designated a burial ground. Interments in the record books began in 1869.

Originally, some of the cemetery land was part of Judge Lewis B. Ames farm. Richard Little, for whom the town of Littleton was named, also donated some acreage when he platted the Town of Littleton in 1872. Judge Ames deeded the cemetery to the local Weston Masonic Lodge in 1875. The Masonic Lodge owned the cemetery until 1888 when it was deeded to the Littleton Cemetery Association, which is still the owner. The Cemetery Association is a non-profit organization run by five directors. Thus, the Littleton Cemetery is a private cemetery and is not owned or maintained by the city.

The Littleton Cemetery is rich in history of the area, as are most all cemeteries that have existed for over a hundred years. Those in search of family histories and ties or those seeking general history of the area will find many answers and clues to these backgrounds on the headstones and interment records at the Littleton Cemetery. Everyone buried at the cemetery is important to someone and may be the link needed to bring together the story of the background of a family line. Many of the well-known early Littleton citizens rest in this pleasant cemetery.

The north-east corner of the cemetery has a circle of headstones called Veteran's Circle by some and Soldiers Plot in the interment books. Those who served in wars from the Spanish-American War to World War II are interred there.

Nearly all written accounts of persons buried in Littleton Cemetery include the infamous cannibal, Alfred Packer. Although the headstone has been vandalized or stolen several times, we learned that it is now securely set in several feet of concrete. We also checked the interment records to be sure the reports of the cause of death were accurate. Yes, indeed, the cause of death is listed as "stomach trouble."

The Columbine Genealogical and Historical Society frequently undertakes special projects to aid in the research of the local area. The objectives of the Society are to promote interest in genealogy and history; encourage and instruct members in genealogical research through informative programs, careful documentation and maintenance of quality genealogical standard; to locate, preserve and index public and private genealogical and historical records and make such available to members and to the public; to assist and support genealogical libraries, archives and historical information in a regular newsletter and other publications as directed by the membership. Membership is open to all with an interest in genealogy or history.

This project was specifically designed to help researchers find information about those buried in the Littleton Cemetery. A detailed description of how to use this extraction of information from the cemetery is provided in the preface.

Sources for this information include:

1) "The Littleton Cemetery" www.littletongov.org

2) "General History of Littleton and Chronology" www.littletongov.org

3) Hicks, Dave. "Littleton Beginning" Egan Printing, 1975

4) McQuarie, Robert J. and C. W. Buchholts. "Littleton, Colorado: Settlement to Centennial" Littleton Historical Museum and Friends of the Library and Museum, 1990.

5) Mount Rosa Chapter, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. "Littleton Cemetery, Littleton, Colorado.

6) "Littleton Cemetery, 1860 - 1986". Friends of Littleton Cemetery. E. M. Frisby, March 1986.