The Apex Pioneer Memorial Park (Urch Street Cemetery)

is the final resting place for over 1000 of Geraldton's earliest residents commencing in 1863 and continuing through to 1930. While headstones no longer mark the sites of most graves, please treat the grounds with respect and sensitivity.

In January 1863, this site was marked out as a burial ground by Assistant Surveyor William Phelps. Later that year, a parsonage was constructed nearby for the Anglican Archdeacon, and in October 1864, the new Geraldton Cemetery was consecrated by Bishop Hale. Back along Eleanor Street (now Chapman Road), a foundation stone for the St Francis Xavier Church was laid in February 1869, completing, much to the townspeople's delight, a religious precinct around the new cemetery was to be shared by Anglicans and Roman Catholics.

To accommodate Methodists, Presbyterians and those classified as "Non-specific", an additional cemetery reserve situated near the government quarries along Eastern Road was surveyed by John Forrest in 1871. Over the years, the Urch Street and Eastern Road Cemeteries became crowded, and a new cemetery was opened at Utakarra in 1930. Sadly, the old cemeteries quickly became neglected and overgrown, leaving one Geraldton resident to write to the newspaper.

"Being the custodians of God's Acre, we stand idly by condoning its wholesale desecration. Its disgraceful state can scarcely be exaggerated … a visit by any of your readers will satisfy them that it is a rendezvous of all classes of stock, from rabbits to cattle. Very many times you will see thirty or more cows grazing there."

(Geraldton Guardian & Express, 3 December 1932, p.1)

Despite ongoing efforts to maintain the grounds, in 1956, a news headline read "Old Cemeteries Shocking Blot on Landscape". The following year the Church of England offered up the conditional transfer of the cemetery land to the Geraldton Municipal Council.

In 1967, seeing an opportunity for a worthy project, the Geraldton Apex Club sought approval from the Council to undertake restoration work at the old Urch Street Cemetery. Before the project commenced, Lou Eves and Ron Parkin conducted a survey of all headstone and graves. Extensive scrub and undergrowth clearing followed, and most old headstones were removed, although notable markers, such as the memorials for Resident Magistrate Thomas Brown (1803-1863) and Mining Warden John Michael Finnerty (1853-1913), were retained. A park was created on the site and named in honour of the district's founding citizens. During the 1990s, a group called the Apex Memorial Park Action Group played a pivotal role in protecting the site from encroaching development. In later years, a grant to celebrate the Centenary of Federation (2001) was secured, and Apex undertook further site restoration. The freestanding headstones and others stored at the Council Depot were incorporated into gardens and the Centenary of Federation Memorial Wall.

Reference: Geraldton Regional Library resources.