Between Two Centuries: A Photographic Exploration of St. Joseph’s Cemetery

3rd Eye Blue
Dec 17, 2024
2 min read

Welcome back, lens lovers!

I mentioned in my previous post that there were two cemeteries I have previously visited that I would share here.

This post is about Saint Joseph’s Cemetery in Geary County, Manhattan, Kansas. I visited this cemetery on the insistence of RBF who had been here previously and told me how beautiful it was. It may be a prompt for my project; the spot where the idea was planted.

Saint Joseph’s Cemetery was around a two-hour drive, and well worth it. I am not finding a lot of information about this cemetery except the basics. Saint Joseph’s is a Catholic cemetery that is likely operated under the Catholic Diocese of Salina, although I cannot currently find it listed in their directory. One source reports 208 headstones on record, while another claims 170. The cemetery is dated 1910, and the initial church whose 3+ acres of land it rests upon was built in 1870; it was replaced in 1910 with the church that is standing today, and services were held until the church closed in 1989. It isn’t a large cemetery, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in charm. It is well kept and very beautiful; it is obvious this cemetery is still appreciated.

From research, the oldest memorial on site appears to be Ms. Bridget Dolan who passed on August 14th, 1871, at an estimated 58 years old (her birthdate is unknown), and the most recent is October of 2021. This cemetery presents an intriguing balance of new and longstanding memorial stones.

Saint Joseph’s Church is an ongoing renovation project by Geary County Historical Society.

Saint Joseph’s Cemetery

Manhattan, Geary County, Kansas, USA

Coordinates: 39.05154, -96.64105