Hyde
Park/Washburn Cemetery |
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Click picture
below to enlarge  Avondale Mine Disaster |
Here in the
Washburn Cemetery lie the remains of 61 of the 110 victims of the September 6, 1869, Avondale Mine disaster in Plymouth Township, Luzerne County. The miners, most of whom were of Welsh descent, were interred on September 9, 1869. Dedicated October 1, 1994 National Welsh-American Foundation Sefydliad Cenedlaethol Cymru America |
History of Washburn Street Cemetery
What is now known as the Washburn Street Cemetery was established in the early years of the settlement of the borough of Hyde Park as a public burial ground on lands (as best as I can figure out) originally owned by the Fellows family, separate from their family burying grounds. The Hyde Park Cemetery Association was incorporated in 1862. In its first expansion, an additional 5 acres of ground were purchased from Thomas Phillips and wife of Providence with the deed recorded on Sept. 1, 1865, for $3000. Many obituaries, death notices, and official documents will reference it as Hyde Park cemetery prior to the 1890's. This was often confused with the Hyde Park Catholic cemetery at the end of W. Gibson St. (now Oram St.), and known after 1898 as Cathedral Cemetery.
A cemetery known as the New Cambria Cemetery, operated by the Cambria Cemetery Company, opened adjacent to Washburn Street in 1900. It was located on Washburn St. where South Grant Ave. joined. By 1903 it was absorbed into the association which then became known as the "Hyde Park, Cambria and Washburn Street Cemeteries Company". The cemetery is located at 1515 Washburn St., Scranton, PA.
Among the early interments on this plot were 69 victims of the Sept. 9, 1869, Avondale disaster, a mine breaker which caught fire just south of Plymouth, PA; 17 of these names are identified in the source one LDS list. Up until the 1930's an entrance existed on the east side of the cemetery from Filmore street. As with many other cemeteries, ownership has changed hands several times, additional land purchased for expansion, and problems have resulted from some of these changes - lack of maintenance is but one. Official records are held by the offices of the Rader Insurance Co., Scranton, and are organized by plot owner. This office also handles Abington Hills and Shady Lane cemeteries.
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Click the image to enlarge the ariel view and section plan for Washburn Street Cemetery. It is based on a hand drawn sketch made from a visit to the office over a Google map. It can be used to get a rough idea where each section should be. |
To Washburn Cemetery LDS 1940
To Washburn Cemetery LDS 1946To Washburn Cemetery Burial From Other Sources By Richard Reese, February 2008
To Washburn Cemetery Contributions From Tom Price
To Jeffrey L. Thomas' Washburn Street Cemetery Page - with Gravestone Photographs
Forest Hill Cemetery Database
Return to Lackawanna County PAGenWeb Home Page