Is the BC Penitentiary cemetery located near/in the same place as the Woodlands cemetery?
The two cemeteries are located very close to one another — perhaps 500 meters apart — but they are not one and the same place. The one-acre Woodlands cemetery, located at the northwest edge of the Woodlands property adjacent to Queen’s Park Care Centre, was officially turned into a park in 1976 (see “Cemetery To Become a Royal City Park”, The Columbian, November 2, 1976). 130 markers belonging to children and young people who died at Woodlands during the previous century had at that time already been removed — illegally — and were reportedly being used to line a path for a residence in Coquitlam. The Woodlands cemetery is all but invisible now, and its fate hangs in the balance given current development of the Woodlands site. Return to the top of this page Who owns the cemetery? Who is responsible for its upkeep? The cemetery is owned by the City of New Westminster. Return to the top of this page Information about men buried in the BC Penitentiary cemetery Why were the men buried i
