MEMORIES OF GREAT HISTORY AND GREAT PEOPLE

The Ottawa Avenue Cemetery was originally developed under four different branches and its earliest records date back to 1847, only one year before the opening of the historic Illinois & Michigan Canal and at a time when the newly formed settlement of Ottawa was becoming a city. 

Many of the great men and women, who contributed to Ottawa’s rich history, are now at rest in the Ottawa Avenue Cemetery.

A life-size bronze statue of a uniformed Boy Scout stands overlooking the W.D. Boyce family plot commemorating the famous Boy Scouts of America founder.

William Reddick, an Illinois State Senator and one of Ottawa’s most famous philanthropists, John Hossack a famous abolitionist, men young and old who perished in the Civil War, and others who left their indelible mark on family, friends and our great city, all lie at rest in the Ottawa Avenue Cemetery. 

Generations of families have been attracted to the beauty, tranquility, and historic importance of the Ottawa Avenue Cemetery.