Enterprise Cemetery History
The History of The Enterprise Cemetery begins in 1888 with the first burial even before the 1890 legal plat of the cemetery. The cemetery has been in continuous use since then. It is located in the NE corner of the city, adjacent to the northern city limit of Enterprise, Oregon. More than 6,935 platted gravesites encompass an area of approximately 15 acres.
In March of 1891, James P. Gardner purchased 160 acres of land, part of which included the site of the Enterprise Cemetery. This was conveyed under the Land Act of 1820, which required full payment for a tract of land and reduced the price by $1.25 an acre On June 18, 1906, shortly after James Gardner’s death, his wife and children sold the cemetery to Alonzo Monroe Wagner for $200. By 1907, county clerk records and public notices in the Wallow Chieftain show, Alonzo Wagner selling individual plots in the cemetery to residents of
Enterprise.
The City of Enterprise purchased the cemetery on May 29, 1911 for $350. A Cemetery Association was in the process of organization in June of 1918, to see that the “burial
ground on the hill is better cared for.” The Cemetery Association spent the next 41 years sponsoring fund raising dinners and events to fund projects such as installing roads, planting vegetation, grading and lawn care.
In May of 1952, Cemetery Districts statewide were urged to assess taxes for cemetery use. In June of 1952 the Wallowa County Court established Cemetery Districts for Enterprise, Joseph and Lostine. The Enterprise Cemetery Maintenance District was formed on July 8, 1952.
The formation of the Maintenance District gave the cemetery a tax base for the operation of the cemetery.​ As a tax district, a small percentage of property taxes support its management and operation. Approximately 1300 homes and businesses provide about $25,000 per year for maintenance and upkeep.
Today there is a 5-member Board of Directors elected by voters of the county. They serve for 4 years with staggered terms.
In 2006, the St. Katherine Catholic Church filed a quick claim deed to transfer ownership of the Catholic portion of the cemetery to the Enterprise Cemetery Maintenance District.
New plantings at the front entrance were installed in November 2007, as part of the construction of the Columbarium.
The cemetery used an above ground irrigation system until 2011. The system was disconnected because of deterioration. The cemetery went without water many years until several citizens organized the Friends of the Enterprise Cemetery and raised funds for the installation
of a new irrigation system which was installed in 2016.
In 2023, the Board of Directors authorized a small office building for the use of the Sexton to be placed, on the grounds, near the Maintenance Building.
* Some of the information above was obtained from the “Intensive Level Survey of the Enterprise Cemetery, 305 NE Alder Street, Enterprise, Oregon, 97828” a document prepared for the City of Enterprise by Adrienne Donovan-Boyd and Bruce Howard of Historic Preservation Consulting in August 2017.