Denmark Missionary Baptist Church was founded in 1886 in the Denmark community east of Union on land that had belonged to slave holding families prior to the Civil War but which was afterwards given and sometimes sold to former slaves by their former masters. Thus, after the war, this small African-American community existed until the early decades of the twentieth century which saw many of the families moving into nearby towns and the city of St. Louis. We are uncertain as to when the church stopped holding services, but an educated guess would be the 1910s. It is also unknown when the church was demolished or fell into ruins, but the cemetery was used until about the 1930's.

This cemetery has been referred to by many different names in addition to its proper name, including; Colored Baptist Cemetery, Osborne's Graveyard, Ekey's Cemetery (which is also the name of a nearby Caucasian cemetery), Indian Prairie or Prairie Cemetery (which is also the name of a nearby Caucasian cemetery), Shore's Cemetery, and Prairie Colored Cemetery and variants to all of the above. In 1998, legal procedures began to move the cemetery out of what was to become a subdivision. Some folks got involved in the move, including Rev. Lonzie Cole who requested that certain remains be removed to Mt. Calvary Baptist Cemetery at Robertsville. Things were proceeding as planned, when suddenly it was discovered that all known graves had been opened and the remains moved, without following legal guidelines. This deliberate move was exacted by the developer though he was fully aware of the legal procedures necessary to move the cemetery properly. At any rate, remains were removed to Mt. Calvary and Sunset Cemetery in Pacific. Plans by some descendants to move two graves to St. Louis fell through. Posthumously, these families were broken up without regard to relationships. The graves of Rev. Joseph Morris and his wife Emeline, and that of Robert Shores were moved to Mt. Calvary. The remainder of graves, known and unknown, were moved to Sunset Cemetery where most are marked with small markers engraved "Unknown Shores Cemetery". Those dead listed on Find A Grave as buried at Sunset and Mt. Calvary are not repeated here, but those incorrectly posted as being in Indian Prairie or Ekey Cemetery are posted in this listing.

Though the cemetery was moved, the persons listed here would otherwise be lost to the ages and so we've chosen to 'recreate' the cemetery through the generosity of Find A Grave.