Description of Historic Place

The Old Pioneer Cemetery is a small fenced rural cemetery located on Route 776 in Grand Manan. The north western side is wooded with the Grand Harbour Brook very close. Due to the small size of the property, cemetery has an extension across the brook on a separate piece of property.

Heritage Value

The Old Pioneer Cemetery is designated a Local Historic Place for being the first cemetery for the first church established on Grand Manan Island, St. Paul’s Anglican Church. People from all over Grand Manan are buried here as it was the only cemetery available in the early years of settlement. The graves mainly date in the 1800’s. Many of the family names persist on the island today. As this lot was small, it was soon filled and the Old Pioneer Cemetery Extension was added across the brook but within sight of the original cemetery. Due to vandalism and deterioration, a refurbishment was done to the cemetery in the early 1970’s in order to preserve the cemetery. The headstones were removed and a long, low island of cement was created through the center of the graveyard so that most of the headstones could be mounted on it. The remainder of the headstones that were larger monuments were arranged at the edges of the cemetery. Taller headstones were becoming damaged by car accidents, so in the 1980's concrete blocks were erected with heavy link chain joining to make a fence around the cemetery.

Source: Grand Manan Archives - Local Historic Places files

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements that describe the Old Pioneer Cemetery include:
- first cemetery established on the island;
- headstones made of various stone materials, including marble and granite;
- one particular headstone topped with a large stone cross;
- unique arrangement of tombstones relating to 1970’s preservation interventions.