CHISAGO MEMORIAL PARK CEMETERY is located about one mile south of Highway 8 on the west side of Old Towne Road (CR 24).

This cemetery uses only flat, in-ground markers which help contribute to its park-like atmosphere. In the central section, there is a columbarium which list the names and dates of individuals who chose cremation in lieu of a traditional interment.

The first burial in this cemetery actually took place in 1903. There were about five burials in the year or two which followed before a lawsuit was instituted by a Mr. Emil Nelson. Mr. Nelson, who lived next to the cemetery said he feared well contamination and thus was able to get a restraining order, which halted the burials in the park for a number of years.

In the mid-1940's a group of interested persons again sought to use the property as a cemetery. Eleven men were named directors of a corporation known as Chisago Memorial Park, Inc. The old litigation had to be cleared up and work was begun in the spring of 1948 laying out lots. A. Harold Peterson, Gunnard Palmer, and Stanley Oberg were among the organizers and early workers. Harry J Peterson mainained the cemetery for 37 years.

In the mid-1980's the private non-profit corporation was turned over to Zion Lutheran Church, located across the Old Town Road, with the stipulation that it financing was to be kept separate from regular curch funds and that is should be available for use by persons of any race, color, or creed.

The first burial, according to A. Harold Peterson, who has the chronological listing of all interments, was that of Reuben C Post, who had dided February 25, 1945, and whose body apparently had been moved from another cemetery.

The two persons with the earliest birth dates buried in the cemetery were John Anderson and Theodore Pearson, both born in 1863, and both of whom lived to be 89 years old.

The Zion Lutheran Church owns and maintains a total of three separate Chisago county cemeteries; Chisago Memorial Park, South Green Lake, and West Green Lake. The church is located across the street, on the east side of the Chisago Memorial Park cemetery.


28005 Old Towne Road
Chisago City, MN 55013
Phone: (651) 257-2713

Cemetery established: 1948
Cemetery status: Active
Cemetery type: Church
Location: Chisago Lake
Township: T33N
Range: R20W
Section: 18

Cemetery bio: [email protected]