IOWA HILL CEMETERIES
in PLACER COUNTY, CA
Research on the Cemetery began in 1995 by Bob and Sharon Balmain and is ongoing, through newspaper articles; Placer County Archives; CA State Library and Archives; Bancroft Library; San Francisco Historical Society; Catholic Church; Methodist Church; Masonic Organization; out of state repositories; various other CA County Records, & "Placer County Iowa Hill Cemetery Recordings" compiled in 1984 by Melinda Herzog Landrith, C. James Landrith, and Anita Heston DuVall. The transcription was updated in 2014 by Robin Yonash and Bob and Sharon Balmain using online newspaper articles, records and family trees from www.ancestry.com, memorials on www.findagrave.com, and other sources unavailable previously. Many records have conflicting spellings and dates, but an attempt has been made to be as accurate as possible.
If you have questions, or additional information or corrections, please send an email to ihcemetery@gmail.com or put a note in the donation box behind you.
"The pioneers buried on the Iowa Hill Divide came to this remote and rugged place in search of gold, and built a community of homes, schools, churches, and theaters, as well as saloons, gambling halls, and bowling alleys. These pioneers planted orchards and vineyards and searched for gold by washing away the hillsides and honeycombing the mountains with their mines. Miners were here shortly after the 1849 gold rush. In 1853 the town sprang up from one tent and three log cabins to an almost overnight growth of about 1600 people. They lived a live of culture, excitement, hardship and love - ever searching deeper and deeper into the hillsides for the thing they came for - and then they died here and were buried, to became eternally one with the mountain they loved and sometimes cursed." Sharon Balmain
- Address: PO Box 3233 Iowa Hill, CA 95713-3000
- Contact: ihcemetery@gmail.com
- Directions: The Iowa Hill cemeteries are located on Banjo Hill, approximately 1/4 mile northeast of Iowa Hill on the road to Sugar Pine Dam and Foresthill
- Map: Small version of map (pdf)
- Cemetery Descriptions:
- The Protestant Cemetery (includes Masonic and International Order of Odd Fellows cemeteries) is on the north side of the road
- The Catholic Cemetery is on the south side of the road
- The Chinese Cemetery is just east of the Protestant Cemetery, but no markers remain
- In addition, the electronic cemetery "Iowa Hill Divide" on Find a Grave has memorials for people who are interred in the Iowa Hill area, but whose exact burial location is unknown
- Of note: It is unknown when the cemetery on Banjo Hill was founded. The earliest marker we can verify is from 1856. There was an earlier cemetery across from the present day store which disappeared many years ago. Some people were buried outside of a cemetery.
DIFFERENCES FROM THE 2001 TRANSCRIPTION
Entries have been added for people buried since 2001 or because they were overlooked in earlier transcriptions, as well as from memorials added to Find a Grave either by relatives; also information has been added/corrected as a result of research on www.ancestry.com and other sources which were not readily available to earlier transcribers. Based on new information, the cemetery assignments for several people have changed. Some names have been removed because it turns out that there were buried elsewhere (see list below). Maiden names are italicized.
There are four cemeteries on Find a Grave for the Iowa Hill area:
- Old Iowa Hill (Protestant) Cemetery - www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2358736
- St. Dominic's (formerly St. Joseph's) (Catholic) Cemetery - www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2411533
- Iowa Hill Chinese Cemetery - www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2497614
- Iowa Hill Divide - www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=2495239 (for people known to be buried in the Iowa Hill area, but are either not in one of the official cemeteries or the cemetery cannot be determined)
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H | I | J | K | L | M | N |
| O | P | Q | R | S | T | U |
| V | W | X | Y | Z | ||
RESIDENTS OF THE IOWA HILL AREA WHO ARE BURIED ELSEWHERE (were listed in the 2001 transcription)
MARKERS ADDED IN 2014
Due to the deteriorating state of grave markers, or the loss of some markers whose graves could be reasonably located, in 2014 new markers were made for some graves (in addition to cenotaphs). These are:
Protestant Cemetery
- Cross Twins
- Hackett, Chester
- Hall, Eliza
- Hesser, Minnie
- Holder, Michael
- Stone, Ptolemy
- Tamietti, Theodora
- Thomas, William
- VanVactor, Benjamin
- Weisler, Edward E. "Eddy"
Catholic Cemetery
- Iserman, Henrietta/Harriet
- Henry, John
Copyright Notice :: All materials contained on these Iowa Hill Cemetery pages are furnished for the free use of those engaged in researching their family origins. Any commercial use or distribution, without the consent of the host/author (Iowa Hill Cemeteries) of these pages is prohibited. All information used on these cemetery pages were obtained from sources permitting free distribution, or generated by the author, and are subject to the same restrictions/permissions. All persons contributing material for posting on these pages do so in recognition of their free, non-commercial distribution, and further, is responsible to assure that no copyright is violated by their submission.