Historic Preservation Commission Agenda and Packet 2010 10 18

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The cemetery is bordered by non-historic fencing. The fence’scorner posts have been rebuilt to match the historic ones and the entry gateway on the east consists ofrebuilt posts andrehabilitatedhistoric wrought iron gates. The gate appearsto date from the early decades of the cemetery’s history and isan important element of the site’s historic fabric. Signage or other materials detailing regulations and the site’s history are lacking at the property. The current sign at the main entry identifying the site as the Louisville Cemetery is an excellent and appropriate sign for this site.In addition, visitors could be informed of the cemetery’s history and other interpretive characteristics through the placement of signage. The site contains numerous mature plantings, many of which date to the 1930s. Although the cemetery was likely to have originally been a dryland site with no grass and few trees, the improvements made during the 1930s to 1950s are now historic alterations and should probably be left in place. Beautification of the site during this period was an attempt to take a barren, dryland cemetery and turn it into alandscaped burial ground that would be the pride of the community. This successful effort in itself is historic. The cemetery contains an excellent variety of historic funerary art and cultural artifacts dating from the 1890s through the 1950s (and even to the present time). Most of the grave markers appear to be in excellent condition, with little damage observed. In 1976, a group of local citizens completed a project to document all of the known burials so that information would beon hand in the local library. This inventory remains in the library’s reference section and at the historical museum today.Additionally an online inventory is available through the USGenWeb Project and can be found at: http://files.usgwarchives.org/co/boulder/cemeteries/louisville.txt.It provides a good inventory as of 1976, along with an initial effort at collecting biographical information. These records were also published in by the Boulder Historical Society in its quarterly newsletter. FromHistoric Site Analysis – Louisville Cemetery,Completed by Tatanka Historical Associates, Inc. 7 May 2008, with additional information from Bridget Bacon, Louisville Historical Museum.