Location The Norwegian Cemetery , now called "North Delta Cemetery" can be found on the corner of Brooke Road and Dunlop Road in Delta, British Columbia, Canada. It is in a residential neighborhood and is adjacent to an elementary school.
|
Construction
The site is listed as being constructed in 1919 on Gunderson property although the forming of the North Delta Cemetery that can be visited today is more complex. The Gunderson's allowed residents to bury on their plots and eventually informally donated the land over to Trinity Lutheran Church to maintain.
In an interview with Les Starhiem, a resident of North Delta/ Annieville since the 1939, he mentioned that there was a small cemetery in the church yards at Trinity Lutheran Church simultaneously used as the cemetery on the Gunderson plot. Eventually the Church wished to expand and build a community/education wing off of the church and this mini-cemetery was relocated some of the bodies relocated to the "Norwegian Cemetery". Unfortunately records and photographs of this cemetery directly on church land and its eventual fusion with the Gunderson cemetery either do not exist currently or are lost.
In an interview with Les Starhiem, a resident of North Delta/ Annieville since the 1939, he mentioned that there was a small cemetery in the church yards at Trinity Lutheran Church simultaneously used as the cemetery on the Gunderson plot. Eventually the Church wished to expand and build a community/education wing off of the church and this mini-cemetery was relocated some of the bodies relocated to the "Norwegian Cemetery". Unfortunately records and photographs of this cemetery directly on church land and its eventual fusion with the Gunderson cemetery either do not exist currently or are lost.
|
The cemetery changed hands again to the Municiple government of Delta and became known as "North Delta Cemetery" in 1967 however was not formally government property until 2003 when Mayor Lois Jackson officially signed for it. This can be seen in the documents to the left.
These documents were recovered from the Corporation of Delta's Civic Site. https://delta.civicweb.net/Documents/DocumentList.aspx?ID=33939 Currently the site is now open to the public for visiting and use. There have been a number of new burials in the 2000s. |
Significance
Interesting enough it is located right on the boarder between the Trondhiem (Brooke) and Romsdal (Annieville) as a sense of the already abundant unity between the two regions. There are various reasons why this site is important, however first and foremost it is the resting place of the founders and builders of the current areas of Annieville and Brooke. Some of the descendants of these founders still live the area and use the cemetery. It can be seen as an archive of early Norwegian settlement in the area and as it gives the names and dates of these individuals it is a great place to start a search or investigation of history in North Delta. Some of the harsh realities of their lives can be learned by looking at the inscriptions on the tomb stones, for instance their is multiple references to death by shipwreck and drowning an unfortunate reality of the dangers of fishing.
Archaeologically studies could be conducted on the changing themes in headstones, or the nature of death of the individual's in relation to the age at death. The organization of the burial plots as a glimpse of aspects of the Norwegian community and changes through time.
Archaeologically studies could be conducted on the changing themes in headstones, or the nature of death of the individual's in relation to the age at death. The organization of the burial plots as a glimpse of aspects of the Norwegian community and changes through time.