Organized in 1884 as a profit making corporation, Fairview Cemetery is the oldest non-Catholic cemetery in Santa Fe. More than 3,700 documented burials at Fairview Cemetery represent a diverse set of religions and occupations, demonstrating patterns of immigration and settlement and commemorating individuals important to the nineteenth- and twentieth-century history of the area. Among the many prominent New Mexicans buried at Fairview are three New Mexico governors, two senators, prominent members of Santa Fe’s artist colony, and several Jewish pioneer merchants. The history of Fairview Cemetery is also significant for its association with the noteworthy Woman’s Board of Trade and Library Association (WBT), a women’s benevolent society that took over management of Fairview Cemetery in 1899. After merging with the Santa Fe Woman’s Club in 1930, the group continued to manage care of Fairview Cemetery until 1978 when Santa Fe County took over ownership, using the cemetery to bury indigent persons. The Fairview Cemetery Preservation Association (FCPA), a nonprofit corporation made up of concerned citizens and Fairview families, has owned and maintained the site since 1998.
From Old Santa Fe Today, 5th edition by Audra Bellmore with photographs by Simone Frances.
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF HISTORIC SANTA FE FOUNDATION ARCHIVES