Empress Cemetery

Empress, Alberta, Canada

Empress, Alberta is right on the border with Saskatchewan,
and the Empress Cemetery is in Saskatchewan.

GPS Coordinates: 50.922367, -109.981017

SE¼ of 01-04-23-29-W3

Android Phone or Google Maps

iPhone link

what3words
(///escaped.amid.custody)

OpenStreetMap

Directions below

I am creating a new map and directory for the Empress Cemetery,

photographing and identifying each grave, then determining the plot.
I started with redacted versions of the out-of-date map and directory that were made in 2000.
Secondary, I've been researching more information about the people.

Progress

Photographed & mapped: Columns 10 through 18 (north side), and Columns 1 & 2 (south side)
Still to do: Columns 3 through 9 (south side).

2024-Nov-22: The in-cemetery work is now on hold until the snow is gone.

2025-Mar-24: Most of the snow is gone, but it is not warm enough yet. Planning Cemetery clean-up to clear graves of trees and brush.

Directories & Maps

This is a work in progress, so there will be changes coming.
I continue to seek information for people in the cemetery for whom I have little or no information.

These are PDF files with clickable links.

Current version: 2025-Mar-24
The South Side will come summer 2025.

Map, 1 huge page
Full Directory, 7 very wide pages
Basic Directory, 6 pages letter size

There links to "More Info" pages in the Full Directory.
Those pages contain my research on the people. So far columns 10 & 11.

Find a Grave® and Ancestry®

I'm posting the photos & information to the individual memorial pages on the Find a Grave® website for the Empress Cemetery, and linking family members when I can.
I created "Empress Cemetery" Tree on Ancestry® to keep track of my research on the people as well as their immediate families not in the Empress Cemetery. Those who are in the cemetery have the Tag "In Cemetery" . This Tree is publically available to those with a paid Ancestry® account.

Empress Cemetery Information

As you can see from the Overview Plot Map below, there are Columns running north-south. Each individual square is a Plot and inside it are Sub-plots (or graves). The Plot numbers start in the south on the east side of the column, counting up going north. When reaching the farthest north in the column, turns around and continues counting up going south on the west side of the column. So the south end of the columns have both the first Plot number (1), and the highest Plot number just to the west of Plot 1.

Each grave is 10 feet long (east-west), and 5 feet wide (north-south). Walkways are 6 feet wide.
These are all "ideal" measurements. The real measurements, and even the exact placement of a grave, can be a little "off" from the plan.

Each grave has a designation label in the form of # - # - #
In the example of 10-24-2:

10	is the Column
24	is the Plot
2	is the Sub-plot/Grave

Sub-plot/Grave "M" means middle, when a grave can only be described as being in-between other graves.
Sub-plot/Grave "W" means walkway, when a grave was placed in a walkway.

Empress Cemetery Overview Plot Map (2024-Nov-17)

Sub-plot labeling

Empress Cemetery Overview Plot Map (2024-11-17)

Large Plots are 20 feet to a side and contain 8 graves. All have the same Sub-plot/Grave labeling scheme.

Middle-sized Plots are 20 feet east-west and 10 feet north-south, containing 4 graves. All have the same Sub-plot/Grave labeling scheme. They are only at the south ends of columns 1, 2, 3.

Small Plots are 10 feet to a side and contain 2 graves. They have a different Sub-plot/Grave labeling scheme, depending on whether the Plot is on the east side of the Column, or the west side of the Column. Here is an example of the south end of a Column, where the Plot numbers are 1, 2, 49, 50: