Friday - Tour of Mt Carmel Cemetery in Belleville, IL

NEW Event
Will go again: 2033
Cost: $10 per person

Will Shannon from the St Clair Historical Society (who has been our docent for the Emma Kunz house, Belleville Victorian House, and Mt Hope Cemetery) has put together a tour of Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Belleville/E St Louis. According to Will, Mt. Carmel Cemetery is primarily a Catholic Cemetery with an interesting historical standpoint (as opposed to Mt Hope which we saw in 2023 and is a Protestant cemetery).

"Mount Carmel Cemetery is one of the principal Catholic cemeteries serving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville. Located on the west side of Belleville, it has served generations of Catholic families from Belleville and surrounding communities for more than a century. While the exact founding date is not well documented in readily available public sources, the cemetery developed alongside the rapid growth of the Diocese after its establishment in 1887 and continues to function as an active diocesan cemetery.
"The cemetery is known for its gently rolling landscape, mature trees, traditional Catholic statuary, and a mix of historic monuments, family plots, and modern burial sections. Visitors will find graves representing many of the immigrant communities—particularly German and Irish Catholics—that helped shape Belleville during the late 19th and early 20th centuries." from ChatGPT because the Archdiocese didn't have anything on it.