Simcoe Island Cemetery

As I was crossing to Simcoe Island, the ferryman told me about this cemetery, saying it was hard to find, being so overgrown. Another resident told me it had an oak tree growing in the middle. Regardless, I drove by it six times before I found it. It is about 50 yards south of the road, and may be accessed from a mown grass lane which leads past it.

This land was set aside as the Simcoe Island cemetery by George Eves on the Eves family farm. Only two burials were ever done, George, who died in 1910 at age 49, and his son Sydney, who died in 1899 at age 16. Further burials were prohibited when the cemeteries laws were changed to prohibit unregulated burial sites.

The whole plot is about 15 feet by 20 feet, surrounded by an iron fence, and is so overgrown as to be completely inaccessible. Bedrock is not deep in the islands, and the graves are probably too shallow. The odour of decomposition is still evident, even with the last burial over a century ago.

The place was also alive with monarch butterflies. They were everywhere.

As I was leaving, a resident stopped to find out what I was doing. When I told him I was photographing the cemetery, it seemed he was satisfied with my intent. He just wondered how I knew about it. Seems that it is a not so well kept secret on the island.