BC penitentiary cemetery

Name: BC penitentiary cemetery
Address: New Westminster, BC V3L 0C3, Canada, L, Canada

4.7/5 ★ based on 3 reviews

Contact BC penitentiary cemetery

Address :	New Westminster, BC V3L 0C3, Canada
Categories :	Cemetery ,
City :	L

Best Cemetery in Canada

C	Craig Mckee on Google ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Nice place to learn some local history.
P	Philip Butler on Google ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Very odd just a number for the prisoners. It's located behind 271 Francis Way in New Westminster
H	Hamish McDonald on Google ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Finally open to the general public! I first heard of the BC Penitentiary Cemetary, aka "Boot Hill", in 2012. At that time, it was an unmarked, overgrown, fenced in patch of land on the west bank of Glenbrook Ravine. Had you first trespassed on private property and then climbed the chain link fence to get in, you would have been given no clues as to the past usage of the small patch of land, other than 30 or so small, flat stones, each marked with a different four digit number. In 2018, the City of New Westminster finished restoring the cemetary, and it is now easily accessible via a pedestrian path and multiple gates that open up in the fence. The signage is informative and gives a great overview of the history of the BC Pen and Boot Hill, including names of many of the prisoners buried here. Many, but not all. To this day, the names behind some of the prisoner numbers on the headstones remain unknown. The reality is that some were buried here because the families declined to claim their relatives remains, including the remains of convicted child molesters. Others were cut off from their relatives because they were simply stranded in BC by the Chinese Head Tax or were indigenous. The restored BC Penitentiary Cemetary is an amazing way to look back at another side of BC history, and the dark side of colonization, racism, crime, and punishment. I recommend that you bring a flashlight and visit on a cold night for the full effect.