TORONTO NECROPOLIS Cemetery MORE THAN a LIVING MEMORIAL to PAST GENERATIONS, TORONTO NECROPOLIS IS ONE of the CUSTODIANS of OUR COUNTRY’S HISTORY
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TORONTO NECROPOLIS Cemetery MORE THAN A LIVING MEMORIAL TO PAST GENERATIONS, TORONTO NECROPOLIS IS ONE OF THE CUSTODIANS OF OUR COUNTRY’S HISTORY. This beautiful resting place emulates that of a living city. It reflects the rich mosaic of cultures that have joined together to form the City of Toronto. Its value to the community is to chronicle the history of the area’s growth with each passing year. Dating back to 1850, Toronto Necropolis is one of the city’s oldest and most historic cemeteries, and is characterized by breathtaking natural vistas and distinctive architecture including stained glass windows. The collection of sculpture and Brown; John Ross Robertson, founder Victorian buildings make it one of the of the Toronto Telegram; former most picturesque cemeteries in the city, NDP leader Jack Layton; Anderson with fine examples of High Victorian Ruffin Abbot, the first Canadian-born Gothic architecture in the fully restored black surgeon; and world-champion cemetery entrance, chapel and office. oarsman Ned Hanlan. The Necropolis also features a monument honouring The Necropolis is also the final resting Samuel Lount and Peter Matthews, place of Toronto’s first mayor, William hanged in 1838 for their roles in the Lyon Mackenzie; journalist George Mackenzie Rebellion. A BRIEF HISTORY OF TORONTO NECROPOLIS CEMETERY OUR CEMETERY ROOTS DATE BACK TO 1826 On January 30, 1826 the York General the residents of Yorkville decided they Burying Ground was established no longer wanted a cemetery in their through an act of the parliament of midst, so they lobbied the government Upper Canada. This first non-sectarian to have it closed. They won their burying ground in the Toronto area petition and the cemetery was ordered was better known as The Strangers’ closed, the bodies to be removed and Burying Ground or Potter’s Field, and re-interred elsewhere. A new cemetery was located on the north-west corner was needed. At about this same time, of Yonge and Bloor Streets. Today, a group of Presbyterian businessmen the York General Burying Ground is opened a small non-sectarian burying known as Mount Pleasant Group of ground, the Necropolis, in what Cemeteries (MPGC), which owns and is today’s Cabbagetown. MPGC operates ten cemeteries in the Greater purchased this cemetery in 1855, and Toronto Area. many of the remains from Potter’s Field were re-interred in this cemetery. By 1850, the area surrounding Potter’s Field had become quite built up, and TORONTO NECROPOLIS CEMETERY ESTABLISHED IN 1850 Located in the historic Cabbagetown In the more than 150 years that area of Toronto, the Necropolis (from have passed since the first burial the Latin necro: dead & opolis: world in the Necropolis, there have been of) is the oldest of the ten properties over 46,000 burials in the cemetery. currently operated by Mount Pleasant The beautiful chapel at the entrance Group of Cemeteries. to the cemetery, as well as the superintendent’s lodge and porte- Picturesquely situated on the west cochère was designed by prominent slope of the Don Valley between Toronto architect Henry Langley and Winchester and Gerrard Streets, the erected in 1872. Necropolis was originally developed in 1850, as the city’s second non- In 1933, the first crematorium in sectarian cemetery, by several the province of Ontario, the Toronto Toronto businessmen who operated Crematorium, was established at the it until 1855. Necropolis. Since then, there have been more than 24,000 cremations In those far-off days, there was carried out here, and the property nothing around the site of the new has become known as The Toronto Necropolis but a few houses and John Necropolis and Crematorium. Scadding’s farm on the other side of the Don. Highways and cars were far As one of the city’s oldest cemeteries, in the future. the Necropolis has naturally become the final resting-place of many of Toronto’s pioneers. Toronto Necropolis Chapel Scattering Memorials YOUR OPTIONS AT TORONTO NECROPOLIS There are a variety of burial and cremation options available to suit your personal wishes. Ground Burial For those choosing ground burial, there is still limited burial space available at the Necropolis, including single grave lots, which can accommodate up to two burial containers (caskets or cremation urns) and a flat marker. Cremation Most people who choose cremation also want a lasting memorial, and a place for family and friends to visit. The Toronto Necropolis offers: • Marble-fronted niches in the • Memorial scattering areas, chapel columbarium featuring a sculpture by Canadian • Cremation burial plots in special artist Juliet Jancso. The work areas, including around a central depicts a family of three and black granite sculpture entitled represents the Depression-era Onward by Canadian artist Cabbagetown community Kosso Eloul GENERAL INFORMATION Mount Pleasant Group Pre-planning Ground Burial and Entombment Cremation Our Cremation Centres and Cremation Technology Cremation Witnessing Natural Burial Product Selection Additional Tools and Resources MOUNT PLEASANT GROUP (MPG) We are a not-for-profit corporation. This means we are not owned or subsidized by any level of government. All revenues generated over-and-above expenses are retained within the organization for the operation of our properties. This allows us to invest in innovations that our customers see value in such as environmentally advanced cremation centres, indoor mausoleums, natural burial areas, modern and spacious multi-functional funeral centres and geothermal/solar niche buildings to name a few. Cemetery, Funeral and Cremation Establishments Managed by MPG MPG manages ten non-denominational cemeteries, nine funeral centres, and four cremation centres in the Greater Toronto Area. Here is a list of dates of establishment in chronological order: 1826: Potter’s Field (closed in 1875) 2000: York Funeral Centre 1850: Toronto Necropolis 2000: Elgin Mills Funeral Centre 1876: Mount Pleasant Cemetery 2001: The Simple Alternative Funeral Centres – Pickering 1890: Prospect Cemetery 2009: Mount Pleasant Funeral Centre 1928: Pine Hills Cemetery 2010: Meadowvale Funeral Centre 1948: York Cemetery 2014: Mount Pleasant Cremation 1965: Beechwood Cemetery Centre 1979: Elgin Mills Cemetery 2014: Elgin Mills Cremation Centre 1981: Meadowvale Cemetery 2016: Thornton Cremation Centre 1984: Thornton Cemetery 2017: Meadowvale Cremation Centre 1993: Duffin Meadows Cemetery 2017: Thornton Funeral Centre 1994: The Simple Alternative Funeral Centres – Toronto 1996: The Simple Alternative Funeral Centres – Mississauga 1998: Pine Hills Funeral Centre PRE-PLANNING If you have already pre-arranged your begin to consider overall cost and funeral and cemetery arrangements how much you would like to spend. then you’re most likely aware of the • And that brings up the third main benefits of pre-planning. benefit: When you prepay, you are protected from inflation. And in If you have not yet planned your final doing so, you’re protecting your arrangements, or have just begun your family from having to make hard research, here is some information for decisions about what’s appropriate, your consideration. and what’s affordable. • Planning your own funeral is not Still have a lot of unanswered top of mind for most but there are questions? Ask for an appointment many benefits to planning ahead, with our Pre-planning Advisors. They both for you and your family. For are there to help answer all your one, it provides a clear record of questions and take you through every how you would like to proceed, as step of the process. well as direction to the executor of your estate. If our office hours are not convenient, • More than this, planning ahead lets or if you are unable to get to us, one of you make your own decisions, from our Pre-planning Advisors will come to cremation to burial and all other you. Contact our office and ask to have cemetery and funeral services, to one of our representatives visit you at the type of memorial you want. your home or office. Wrapped into all this, you can also GROUND BURIAL AND ENTOMBMENT Most people are familiar with the • Mausoleum: a large building concept of burial, or interment, but that provides above ground may not be aware of the variety of entombments. options that are often available. Many – Single crypts accommodating cemeteries offer one or more of the one person following: – Companion crypt permits one or two entombments Ground burial: burial of the casket side-by-side below ground. • Private family mausoleum: If Casket Burial a small structure that provides • Would you like other members of above-ground entombment of, on the family to be with your loved one average, two to twelve decedents. in the future? This determines the • Private family estate: a small size of the lot. section of a cemetery, usually • What type of memorial do you prefer bordered by gates, shrubbery, (a marker set flush with the ground or other dividers, that allows for or an upright memorial)? ground burial of several members • Would you like to protect your loved of the same family. one’s casket with a vault? • What type of presentation would If Casket Entombment you prefer for the burial service, e.g. • Would you like other members of a tent canopy, chairs, mats leading the family to be with your loved one to the grave, etc.? in the future? This determines the size of the crypt. • What type of memorial package would you prefer? CREMATION Cremation is an alternative to casket • You have numerous options for the burial or mausoleum entombment: it final resting place. does not limit the funeral in any way. • You can bury an urn in a cemetery, Should you choose cremation, you providing a permanent resting place will still have the same options for where family and friends can visit. memorialization that any other family • You can place a portion of has.