Map of Hillcrest by section
NOTE: See the bottom of this page for important information about the records we have and do not have.
Maps of each section with notes
More details coming soon!
- Directories (alphabetical and by location)
- How to help update our records (transcription team)
- More about the paper records we have, with examples (See Photos page for examples)
About the information we have
We have recently obtained about 80% of the paper records of Hillcrest Cemetery and have begun digitizing them, as well as putting key information into spreadsheets. Many are fragile, and while somewhat organized, can be complex to search through. We hope to get some key portions of them online eventually, but for now we have to manually search them for any information beyond some key data we have on the computer now. Email is the best way to reach us, for this. Please include all the information you have such as full name, dates of birth and death, other persons who may be in the same lot, and the name of the person who purchased the lot. However, if you learn about us while visiting from out of town or if you have an urgent need such as a possible/pending burial on a family lot, please contact us by whatever means suits you.
Please note the following limitations and key facts:
Please note the following limitations and key facts:
- Computerized burial records, transcribed from the Burial Permits filed with the cemetery, and supplemented from hand-written ledgers, from between 1926 (date of a fire in the cemetery office) and 1994 (when records were no longer kept). These are being refined and updated continuously and will eventually be placed on this website.
- The burial records for 1926-1994 are estimated to be 95% accurate, accounting for transcription of handwritten records and original recording errors and omissions.
- There are an estimated 10,000 people buried in Hillcrest, of which we have 7,681 names in the computer so far. Another big batch is coming soon, then we will need to do an on-site transcription to find most of the more recent or otherwise missing burials.
- The grave purchase records (contracts) have not been fully transcribed, but when complete, will be available for quick reference by contacting us. Because these are private sales contracts, we probably won't put these online. We also have a sort of ledger book that shows owner surnames and spaces used in a visual format for some sections. We hope to add photos of these pages online soon.
- We have old plat maps to help with locating graves from the records. Some areas are not clearly mapped, but searching nearby graves can usually help us find marked graves or pinpoint graves without markers with some accuracy. Copies of these maps and new illustrations incorporating aerial imagery are being added to this site as time allows. (UPDATE: As of March 2021, all sections have aerial imagery with overlaid maps on this site.
- Hillcrest is still an active cemetery, with about 20 burials a year. Please contact us if you have had a family burial since 1994, so that we may add them to the records. Likewise, if you have accurate records for burials prior to 1926, please help us by sending the information along.
- Key terms:
Section: One of 10 main divisions of the entire cemetery — 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Circle and M (Bronze)
Block: The first subdivision of a section—usually a long, narrow strip (not applicable in Sections 8 and 9)
Lot: The breakdown of blocks into smaller areas—usually 4 or 6 graves, but varies.
Space: The subdivision of a lot designed for one adult burial. Sometimes these are split into East 1/2 and West 1/2 (or even three 1/3 lots) for multiple infant or child graves. In almost all cases, spaces in Hillcrest lots are numbered from 1 at the adjacent walkway—even if it's a barely noticeable grassy strip.
