Genoa Has Historic Cemetery

Looking northwest at the Genoa Cemetery.

by Glenn Franco Simmons

Tucked away two-thirds north of Genoa-proper, off Jacks Valley Road, is the historic Genoa Cemetery, which remains in use today. 

While walking through the cemetery, a profound sense of history soon evidenced itself in the form of various types of gravestones.

The cemetery, operated by the Genoa Cemetery Association,  is well-maintained and, if I may say with respect, picturesque.

According to the excellent “A History of the Genoa Cemetery,” by Billie J. Rightmire, on Sept. 9, 1897, “J.W. Haines and wife Rosa, deeded seven ... acres to the Douglas Lodge No. 12, F & A.M., and Genoa Lodge No. 15 ~ I.O.O.F., and Douglas County for the sum of $1.00 gold co{i}n, a certain parcel of land north of the Haines home to be used as the Genoa Grave Yard.

“At the time, 1897, and through a chain of property ownerships. {T}his land was already being used as a place for burial. Senator Haines and his wife purchased their 320 acres of Genoa property in 1877.”

As with many cemeteries, Genoa's is sectioned.

“The Genoa Cemetery, as per the deed, had a Genoa Section, an Odd Fellows Lodge Section (I.O.O.F.) and a Masonic Lodge Section {(}F & A.M.),” according to Rightmire. “A small Indian Section is located at the Northeast corner of the Cemetery. The Genoa Cemetery Association was formed in the early 1950s.”

I encourage you to read more of the cemetery’s history at the Genoa Cemetery Association’s cemetery history webpage, or what cemetery association president Bob Whear noted is the association's first newsletter. (At the date of posting, the web links were current.)