Description of Historic Place

Pioneer Park is located at the site of a Methodist Cemetery. Overlooking the Otonobee River, it is located at the southwest corner of George and Hilliard Streets. It is recognized for its heritage value by the City of Peterborough Bylaw 2004-110.

Heritage Value

Pioneer Park is recognized for being the location of the City of Peterborough's second Methodist Cemetery. The Peterborough Wesleyan Methodist Congregation acquired the land for this on November 13, 1850 to replace Peterborough's first and older Methodist Cemetery located on the present site of Confederation Park. The trustees of the Wesleyan Methodist Church registered this second Methodist Cemetery in 1855 and many of the remains from the older cemetery were re-interred here. The second Methodist Cemetery was closed in 1875 and it is likely that some of its remains were transferred to Little Lake Cemetery. By September 1891, public concerns raised about the rapid deterioration of the second Methodist Cemetery led to the City of Peterborough purchasing the site in 1944 from George Street United Church on condition that the lands would be used in perpetuity for public park purposes. The site of the second Methodist Cemetery was formerly vested by the City of Peterborough Board of Park Management in 1960 and then established as Pioneer Park. The majority of the gravestones have disappeared under the sod.

Source: Heritage Designation Brief, Office of the Clerk, City of Peterborough Bylaw 2004-110

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that embody the heritage value of the Pioneer Park cemetery include:
-all grave markers extant within the confines of the property
-the entrance gate complete with the grave markers embedded at the base
-all geographic and topographical features both natural and human-made
-all mature trees and plantings
-known and potentially unknown burials