A note from FCRC President Chris McCullough about the special place that is the Grandview Cemetery.
Since 1887, this now 45-acre park style cemetery has been a sacred space for remembering and honoring the deceased. It’s the 3rd cemetery in Fort Collins’ history. The first cemetery (for the soldiers and residence of Camp/Fort Collins) was at what is now Oak Street Plaza and the Museum of Art. As the city grew, that cemetery was moved to what is now East Dale Drive loop near the East Side Park behind the Safeway on Lemay. Again, as the city grew, that cemetery was moved to what is now Grandview Cemetery.
Many prominent Fort Collins founders, Colorado Senators and Representatives are laid to rest here. Coincidentally, you won’t find Lt. Col. William Oliver Collins buried here (he is the namesake for Fort Collins) – he is buried in Ohio. In fact, Lt. Col. Collins never came to the camp/Fort that is named after him. It was Gen. James Craig who named the camp to honor Col. Collins.
For nearly 140 years this place has been more than a place to lay the deceased to rest, it’s been home to walkers, birders (many owls and other species of birds take up home here) and yes, runners. We are very fortunate that such a place exists and is accessible as many cemeteries are closed to the public.
Having a quiet, serene place of reflection to run is the ideal and Grandview Cemetery is the epitome of such a place. It’s where beginner runners come to run all the way to National, World and Olympic champions and everyone in between. Legends like Jane Welzel, Jon Sinclair, Kim Jones, Libbie Hickman, Libby James and many others have trained in this special place for decades. When Jane passed away in 2014, the running community, friends and family gathered here for a New Orleans jazz procession with everyone walking the cemetery mile to the tune of “When the saints go marching In”. It was special and memorable.
Speaking of the “cemetery mile” – how was that figured out? Who figured it out? Runners have been doing the mile and half mile for decades and the routes and workouts have been passed down orally through the generations like something out of Greek mythology (ok, maybe not that epic).
Before the internet and before GPS watches were around to figure out runs, there were maps. Hand drawn maps that were passed around or found by people “in the know” and thanks to Jonathan Zeif, former FCRC president, this treasure of a map has re-surfaced. 30+ years ago, someone wheeled and measured the cemetery and drew out a map. Pretty cool! In that tradition, we’re passing this map along to share with the next generation 🙂 Enjoy!
