Notes
Admin or Biographical History: Started during Broomfield's formative years as a farming community, the Lakeview Cemetery located at 200 Eagle Way represents many aspects of Broomfield's history. The Lakeview Cemetery Association, which oversaw many of the cemetery's operations, was first established in 1890. Wealthy farm owner Adolph Zang sold the cemetery's land to the association for $50, having originally purchased it from the Union Pacific Railroad around 1885. Zang also served on the association well into the twentieth century, along with other prominent Broomfield residents, including William Brown and the Mitze and Crawford families. All of them served on the association as volunteers within the community. Although the association formally handled the operation and maintenance of the cemetery, the first recorded burial there occurred in 1888, before the land was formally acquired; the last burial under the association's oversight occurred in 1954. Throughout its operation, several homesteading families used the cemetery for their burials, including the Mitze, Crawford, Brown, Wright, and Colman families.
After 1954, the Lakeview Cemetery Association disbanded as many original members had begun to pass away. As a result, the cemetery had no consistent maintenance and upkeep, which prompted concern from Broomfield residents and city officials. The Broomfield city council proclaimed in 1972 that the cemetery had become "an unwanted eyesore" to the city, as only twenty to thirty graves of an estimated 114 were clearly marked. Starting in 1973, the cemetery came under the auspices of the City of Broomfield, and was maintained as a historic memorial park to the city's original homesteaders.
In 1992 the City of Broomfield decided to reopen Lakeview Cemetery for the burial of crematorial remains. Spearheaded by the Citizens Cemetery Committee of Broomfield's Rotary Club led by Robert Davenport, many community organizations and citizens saw a need for Broomfield to have a local burial site for residents. Between 1954 and 1992, Broomfield residents had to rely on regional cemeteries elsewhere in Colorado for burial needs. The Committee planned to use the funds received from burying cremated remains to maintain Lakeview, and to eventually fund the building of a new cemetery to suit all burial needs. However, many Broomfield residents were also opposed to the reopening. Residents in neighborhoods built around the cemetery feared that property values might drop due to the reopening, while others feared that the cemetery's historic atmosphere and memory to Broomfield's pioneers would be lost with the addition of new plots for crematorial remains. Karen McGuire, director of the Broomfield Depot Museum at the time, was opposed to the reopening for considerations of maintaining Broomfield history; she also wanted to maintain the cemetery's eligibility to be named a historic site by the State of Colorado. The debate received a great deal of press coverage in local newspapers, as many residents weighed the importance of community needs and historic preservation. Ultimately, the City Council voted to reopen the cemetery. As of 2015, the cemetery is still in operation, though it still only takes in crematorial remains.
Sources:
Pettem, Silvia. Broomfield: Changes Through Time. Longmont, Colorado: The Book Lode, 2001.
Custodial History: Material was likely gathered and/or created by Broomfield Depot Museum Director Karen McGuire in 1992, around the time the Lakeview Cemetery was in consideration to be reopened. Broomfield Depot Museum staff found the material in the museum's collections in 2015.