Established in 1874, Evergreen Cemetery (originally called Greenwood Cemetery) is a 24-acre town cemetery located in Menomonie, Dunn County, Wisconsin. Evergreen Cemetery was founded by Knapp, Stout and Company, a successful lumber company based in Menomonie, Wisconsin. Evergreen was conceived to fill the need for a well-organized, non-denominational town cemetery. Plans for the cemetery began in 1871, with an informal cemetery association established at the same time. The cemetery was designed by Chicago landscape architects William French and Horace Cleveland, and is considered a good example of the “rural romantic” style. The original cemetery was located on a peninsula of land jutting into Lake Menomin, but the peninsula has since become an island, due to a new dam increasing the water level of the lake.
Between 1874 and 1904, the cemetery was managed by Knapp, Stout and Company. In 1904, the company turned management of the cemetery over to the Evergreen Cemetery Association (ECA). At this point, the ECA received approval from the town government, formed a Board of Trustees, and began meeting regularly.
Evergreen Cemetery had two major expansion projects. One took place between circa 1944-1952, and the other between circa 1995-1998. Beginning in approximately 1996, the ECA began the process to have Evergreen Cemetery recognized as a place of historical importance by the State and National Register of Historic Places. With this goal in mind, the ECA embarked on a series of improvement projects to restore the cemetery. These projects included recovering and resetting fallen grave markers, leveling and reseeding the soil, and clearing some overgrown wooded areas. Landscaping work continued the cemetery's traditional practice of planting only hardy, indigenous plant species.
Carolyn Ohnstad, longtime secretary/treasurer of the ECA, collected historical accounts of the founding and creation of the cemetery, as well as demographic information about the “Single Grave Section,” which is the oldest portion of Evergreen Cemetery. With this information, the ECA was able to get Evergreen listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006, and they dedicated several historical markers in 2009. A new entry gate and wall appropriate to the style and historical significance of the cemetery was installed.
