Union Cemetery

The Union Cemetery was founded in 1857 and is the oldest cemetery in Kansas City. Union Cemetery holds the history of numerous war veterans, freedom fighters, and civilians who fought for equal rights and against discrimination. There are more than 55,000 people who are buried in the cemetery who have contributed significantly to the development of the city.

In the 1850s, city leaders identified the need for more land for the cemetery due to an outbreak of a cholera epidemic in the city. Thus, the leaders started to explore nearby lands which could be acquired as part of Union Cemetery and after seven years of the search, M. Hunter gave 49 acres of land for the Cemetery in his deed . It was after this a corporation was founded under the special act of the Missouri General Assembly on November 9, 1857. The new cemetery symbolized the union of the two towns of Kansas City and Westport and thus was named as Union Cemetery.

The segregation of the African American community is visible in the cemetery as the visitors have to walk to the northeast corner of the cemetery to reach the burial site of the black community. One of the most well-known African Americans buried at Union Cemetery is Harriet “Hattie” Drisdom Kearney.

On Christmas Day of 1855, Col. Charles Kearney purchased nine year old Hattie at an auction for $1300. Two years later, Hattie was freed by Col. Kearney. As an African American woman, Hattie had no place to go. Col. Kearney who then hired her as a housekeeper where she nursed and helped raise the Kearney children. Hattie lived with the Kearney family until her death in 1927. She was buried in the family lot, and was the first African American to be buried in the white section of Union Cemetery.

In August of 1889, a fire in Sexton Cottage, the cemetery’s caretakers house, destroyed the cemetery records. The markings on the graves had faded as a result of environmental effects such as deterioration and flooding since the graves were made of limestone and wood. As a result, there are hundreds of undocumented and unmarked graves at the cemetery. The Sexton Cottage faced another fire on Halloween night of 1985. Fortunately the records were saved this time as they were kept off site. In 1990, the Women in Construction of Kansas City rebuilt the Cottage.

Today, the Cemetery remains to be open for individuals to utilize the grounds as a walking trail or a gathering location for events such as Food Truck Fridays.

Content Provided by

Andrew McGuire, student at the University of Missouri Kansas City as part of Dr. Sandra Enriquez’s Urban History Class.

Union Cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April, 19, 2016.