Pioneer Square Park / Old Burying Ground/ Quadra St. Cemetary

Pioneer Square (beside Christ Church Cathedral) is one of BC’s oldest cemeteries. Hudson Bay Company fur traders, ship captains, sailors, fisherman, and crew members from British Royal Navy vessels lie beneath the worn sandstone markers and the associated green belt. Although most of the headstones have either disappeared or have been moved to the back corner of what now is a nice and quiet city park, most of the 1300 (or so) residents remain on site. Hence, it is considered to be one of Victoria’s most haunted areas, and was featured on the Creepy Canada TV series. The Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria organizes guided tours… if you dare…
Gayle and I had a pleasant walk through Pioneer Square one morning, but I know darn well that she wouldn’t be caught «dead» here after sunset. I also tried unsuccessfully to convince her of the old story of kissing your date here at night, and if that she would turn to stone if she was unchaste. Her response (beside her signature rolling of the eyes) was: «How old are you? 14?»

A pleasant destination if you want to deviate from the government street shopping experience. Small and clean, the former cemetery is covered with old tombstones and numerous other memorials for civilian and military figures from Victoria’s earliest days, and so serves as both a dose of local history for the tourist and a place for quiet reflection on the fragile and temporary nature of human existence. Or, as we observed one local doing, it’s just a good place to smoke a joint.
From the city’s park’s website:
Pioneer Square (also known as the Old Burying Ground or Quadra Street Cemetery) was founded during the days of Fort Victoria. In use from 1855 until 1873, it is now the site of a green and shaded, quiet park. Most of the headstones were moved to a back corner of the park and can still be seen today.
On Quadra Street between Rockland Avenue and Meares Street, one block south of Fort Street.