Saint  Mary's  Catholic  Cemetery
 
Section 15 - Salem Township - McCook County - South Dakota 

Saint  Mary's  Catholic  Church  in  Salem, SD

Salem was established as a railroad crossing town in 1880, and grew well and quickly.  Following a couple of county wide votes and a little additional controversy Salem became the county seat in about 1883 using the first floor of the school as a courthouse, which was replaced with a dedicated structure by 1893, which was in turn replaced in 1935.  Due to the homestead settlers the entire county was occupied between 1878 and 1883.

In 1885 St. Mary's Catholic Church was formally organized and the building pictured above was completed by 1898 as the second church building.  A school building was built in 1902 and added onto and remodeled several times over the years.  By 1973 the Catholic schools and the Salem public schools had grown together into a combined system.

 
  A  view  of  the  Saint  Mary's  Catholic  Cemetery  Entrance  Gate

From the burial dates in appears that the St. Mary's Cemetery was put into use along the same time frame as the church.  It and the general use city cemetery, Wildwood, which is located immediately to the east on 253rd Street, also has burials in that time frame.

 
An Aerial  View  of  St  Mary's  Cemetery 

The three photos above show the St Mary's Council Table, the Crucifix, and a general interior photo of one cemetery section.  St Mary's Cemetery has a beautiful setting and receives excellent care.

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The St Mary's Cemetery information database consists of 2 parts.

This information was prepared by Ken Tiahrt (1935-2014) and may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations
for their private use.  A special thank you is given to Christin Bartels for the excellent photographic work.  Any other use, including
publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires written approval.

1.  A Cemetery Map

An aerial photo showing the cemetery in relationship to the adjacent McCook County Roadway, 440th Avenue and 253rd Street, gives the
user a physical setting.  

2.  A List of Burials

A listing of the burials at St Mary's Catholic  Cemetery – Section 15 – Salem Township – McCook County, gives the individual names in
alphabetic order.  This listing also gives the date of birth and date of death when available.   Unfortunately, those burials without grave
markers are not generally included because the official burial list was not available at this time.