Community Corner

Bolingbrook Hosts Memorial Day Service, Historic Cemetery Tours

A Memorial Day service starts at 10 a.m. before the public is invited to learn more about Boardman Cemetary, where at least one Civil War veteran is buried.

Submitted by the Village of Bolingbrook:

A historic Bolingbrook burying ground, Boardman Cemetery, located off Royce Road on Paxson Drive, will be open to the public for tours on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26. The gates will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Members of the Bolingbrook Historic Preservation Commission will be stationed at the Royce Road cemetery to answer questions about the cemetery's history.  

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But first, the Bolingbrook V.F.W. and the American Legion will start off the day with a memorial service at the cemetery at 10 a.m. At least one Civil War veteran is buried at Boardman. 

The cemetery, which is the final resting place for many of the first settlers of DuPage Township, dates back to 1832.  It was all but forgotten for nearly three decades, until accidentally "rediscovered" by a curious teenager who stumbled across it in 1972. 

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The burying ground is named for Captain Harry Boardman, who set aside the hillside he owned for the pioneer community's first cemetery. The cemetery is now under the care of the township.

Boardman Cemetery is surrounded by the homes of the Heritage Creek subdivision located in Bolingbrook. Streets in the subdivision are named for those buried in the cemetery, such as the Harry Boardman, Charles Paxson, Robert Strong and Abner Royce families. For more information about the cemetery or open house, call Village Hall at 226-8411.

Other Memorial Day observances in Bolingbrook

In addition, Memorial Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. at Hillcrest Cemetery, 384 E. Boughton Road (East of Fire Station #3), and at 11 a.m. at the Town Center Veterans' Memorial, 375 W. Briarcliff Road.  


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