Hillside Cemetery Preservation Foundation

Hillside Cemetery Preservation Foundation Hillside Cemetery is a historical cemetery in Reno, Nevada. It was established in 1875 and sits on a Why were these people neglected? Questions surfaced: Why? Who?

Hillside Cemetery – A Historical Treasure
By Frances K Tryon
I am not one of those people who habitually screeches to a stop when passing an old cemetery; however, on June 30th of 2014, I found myself doing that very thing. Something was whispering to me that day so I stopped and walked around the sad, neglected cemetery. I wanted to cry but held my emotions in check and reluctantly re

turned to my car. Why wasn’t something done to clean and fix this place of honor? A few days later, I headed for down town Reno to take part in Art Town Celebrations. My intentions were strong but I found myself back at the historical cemetery. Once again something was speaking to me – not a whisper but a call. When? Then I heard my name, but where would I start? I took a Wal-Mart bag from my car and picked up trash from the parking area. Who were the people buried here? What did they do? How did they come to be in Reno? There were very few headstones but I knew the names on the existing stones – Plumb, Gould, Cassidy, Haymer, Haydon, and Abbee. I had to learn more. That is how my journey began, a simple human instinct to learn. I discovered a walking tour and instead of thinking about it, I went. I met people from the Historical Society and the owner. The cemetery was yelling at me: “If not you; than WHO?” I spoke up and gave my phone number to the owner. “I want to help, please call me.”
Now, I am not a patient person and the cemetery had waited long enough. I was going to start cleaning. I wasn’t waiting for permission. So, my next trip to the sacred ground was met with a huge gasp of reality “Where do I start?” I walked through the cemetery and took notes on the families that had headstones and monuments. Then I cleaned the parking lot, it was a good beginning and I felt happy and content.

We arrived this morning to find one of the tree had blown down in the wind. Spent the day cutting as much as possible. T...
06/07/2026

We arrived this morning to find one of the tree had blown down in the wind. Spent the day cutting as much as possible. Thank you Karel, Richard and Donn. We will have to finish it next week, ran out of battery power.

Yesterday the E Clampus Vitus group built the rock monument to place a plaque for the Mary Stoddard Doten Family Plot. T...
05/31/2026

Yesterday the E Clampus Vitus group built the rock monument to place a plaque for the Mary Stoddard Doten Family Plot. This historic marker will be a great addition to the historic presevation at Hillside. Thank you gentlemen for all you do to perseve our rich Nevada Hilsory.

Yesterday was an easy day. We placed a few temporary markers and worked on cleaning the Conext. Thanks go out to Karel f...
05/31/2026

Yesterday was an easy day. We placed a few temporary markers and worked on cleaning the Conext. Thanks go out to Karel for cleaning the trash and Richard for helping with the markers.

Today was an easy day. Thanks to Karel for picking up the trash. Jay and Richard spread the rocks on the Welch grave sit...
05/23/2026

Today was an easy day. Thanks to Karel for picking up the trash. Jay and Richard spread the rocks on the Welch grave site and finished the block along the Chambers and Baby Elmers grave site. Donn and Heath watered the plants. Donn, Heath, Jay, and Richard finished the retaining wall on the Stiles Family plot. Thanks also to John for fixing the permanent sign on the Buncel grave site.

Tomorrow we will be placing the flowers and flags on the Veteran's in Hillside.

05/21/2026

Memorial Day (Decoration Day) was established after the Civil War to honor the fallen soldiers of that war. It was a big celebration in Reno. The citizens of Reno would gather down town and march to Hillside for a program and to place flowers on Veteran's Graves, then they would march on the the IOOF and Masonic Cemeteries at 4th and Keystone for a program and to place flowers. In the 1970s the day became Memorial Day and became a day to honor all fallen soldiers on the last Monday of May.

On Monday, May 25th Fran Tryon will make the historic walk from the Virginia Street Bridge to the GAR Cemetery at 8:15 am.
The first program will be the Grand Army celebration at 9 am.
Knights of Pythias will hold a memorial celebration at 10 am
Hillside Cemetery Preservation Foundation will be doing a Reading of the Potter's Field Names at 11 am

The driving gates will be open on
Saturday, May 23rd from 9am to 3pm
Sunday, May 24th from 10am to 2pm
Monday, May 25th from 7:30am to 2pm

We have corn at Hillside. Thank you Donn for watering the corn plants! We will see what happens over the next few months...
05/18/2026

We have corn at Hillside. Thank you Donn for watering the corn plants! We will see what happens over the next few months.

This was a glorious day at Hillside Cemetery! Big thanks to Luca, Scout Troop 1, and the parents. Luca led the charge an...
05/16/2026

This was a glorious day at Hillside Cemetery! Big thanks to Luca, Scout Troop 1, and the parents. Luca led the charge and Potter's Field looks amazing. They used the bricks from the Sparks Railroad Machine Shop to out line the graves in Potter's Field. What an amazing group of young peope, I am so proud of them.
I also want to thank Karel for hauling bricks (again); Donn and Sonny for watering the plants and helping fill in pot holes; and Jay for moving block and placing the blocks on the south west fence at Potter's Field.

Big thanks to Karel, Donn, Richard and a new volunteer Chaz! We finished bricking George Blackbun's grave site - a railr...
05/10/2026

Big thanks to Karel, Donn, Richard and a new volunteer Chaz! We finished bricking George Blackbun's grave site - a railroad worker who died 16 March 1882. We also finished the Swan Plot

Today our regular volunteers worked along side the Great Community Clean-up volunteers at Hillside. Thank you John for p...
05/03/2026

Today our regular volunteers worked along side the Great Community Clean-up volunteers at Hillside. Thank you John for placing 10 new perminate signs (I will post more photos later); Karel for cleaning the walkway on Nevada Street; Bobby for caring trash to the dumpster; Jay for the wonderful tracktor work; and Bret for spearheading the new batch of temporary markers (there will pictures when they are placed)

We are so blessed to have such an amazing community. Thank you for sharing the love!

Yesterday was an amazing day. We want to thank all of the volunteers from the KTMB Great Community Clean. The North sect...
05/03/2026

Yesterday was an amazing day. We want to thank all of the volunteers from the KTMB Great Community Clean. The North section (section 33) looks amazing! The 40 volunteers worked so hard clearing weeds; trimming the west vine; trimming trees (not just north but the whole cemetery); rocking three family plots and 4 single graves; and making 7 temporary markers. This shows how much our community cares about the Truckee Meadows. The family members who showed up to see what was going on were so impressed and grateful for the love shown to our rich history and their ancestors - the Founding Fathers of Truckee Meadows.

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University Terrace, Nevada Street And 10th Street
Reno, NV
89503

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