Assumption Roman Catholic Cemetery in Mississauga, Ontario, was consecrated in 1968 to serve the surrounding parishes in Etobicoke, Mississauga and Brampton.
In 2000 Assumption Cemetery saw the addition of 622 souls from Elmbank Cemetery. This pioneer cemetery found itself between two runways at Pearson International Airport due to the march of progress. An airport expansion project necessitated the disinterment and re-internment of the souls buried at Elmbank to Assumption.
There was surviving grave marker information for less than half of the 622 interned in Elmbank (237). There were surviving internment records of roughly 60 individuals. The disinterment process uncovered nameplates etc. which helped identify other people.
Elmbank Roman Catholic Mission Church and Cemetery, commonly known as the 5th line church or St Kevin's, opened in 1833. It served many of the earliest Catholic settlers in rural areas to the northeast of Toronto. The archdiocese replaced the original frame church with a brick structure in 1885. Never an independent parish in its own right, Elmbank was always a Mission Parish. Due to population shifts, and the construction of other churches in the surrounding communities, this parish faded over time. Elmbank saw its last Mass in 1915. By the beginning of the 1930s, Elmbank was abandoned, and in 1932, all buildings, church and rectory were demolished. In 1937 the Harbour Authority of the City of Toronto began purchasing farms in the Elmbank area to establish what was then called Malton Airport. The last know internment in Elmbank Cemetery was Elizabeth Heydon in 1939.
The Airport Authority acquired the cemetery site to make way for an Airport Expansion project in the late 1990s.
The Archdiocese of Toronto decided to relocate this historic cemetery to Section 14 of the nearby Assumption Cemetery in Mississauga. The project was complete by 2004, and the new Elmbank section was dedicated at a Mass on site in 2004.
The attached pictures of Elmbank Memorials are of original or replacement monuments, and these pictures were taken in Section 14 of Assumption Cemetery after the relocation took place unless otherwise indicated.
The Archdiocese of Toronto website for Elmbank provides a fascinating insight into this massive project.