Humboldt County Historical Society Program

Eureka resident Kirby Nunn presents “An ‘Uprising’ at Myrtle Grove Cemetery” at the Humboldt County Historical Society program meeting. Over the past three years, Kirby Nunn and a small group of volunteers, in cooperation with Eureka City Parks Department, have been improving conditions at Eureka's pioneer cemetery. They are locating, cleaning, and preserving grave markers, as well as repairing and resurrecting standing markers. Updating records and maps by researching county records and posting Find A Grave Memorials online has also been part of the cemetery project. Nunn became interested in Myrtle Grove in 2015, when she couldn’t find some gravesites that were supposed to be there. Given its noble and optimistic beginnings in 1861, and its role as the town’s first cemetery, it was natural that it eventually became Eureka’s Pioneer Cemetery. Unfortunately, Nunn discovered, it had also had to endure significant vandalism and all manner of well-intentioned “improvements” over the decades. In sharing what she has learned, Nunn will show recently resurfaced historical photographs from the 40s and 50s, when the cemetery association had charge of the grounds, and also photographs of the recent work done and stories about the improvements and visible changes there. There will be mentions of notable burials as well as not-so-notable ones, and, of course, discussion regarding the various rumors that have surrounded the Myrtle Grove Memorial Cemetery since the 1950s. Join Kirby Nunn for a history in photos and stories of Eureka’s pioneer cemetery. For more information please contact the Humboldt County Historical Society at 445-4342, or visit http://www.humboldthistory.org/