The original Dillon Cemetery was established in 1885 with a gift of 53.5 acres of land by pioneer Chauncey Warren.
Warren had a stable and hotel in Dillon, served as mayor and was the patriarch of a large and distinguished family.
He was interred in the first cemetery, then later in this second one. The original cemetery was the only graveyard patented
under federal law, its patent signed June 30, 1901 by President McKinley.
The oldest burial is that of Baby Boche in 1879, now in Lot 3, grave 3, first row inside the west fence where "unknowns" are buried. These people are not unknown; they are persons for whom relatives could not be located at the time of removal. The building of the Dillon reservoir would make the cemetery inaccessible, so the court, in 1962, ordered its removal to its present site. The Denver Water Board had wanted to leave it as a historic monument.
Interred here are many who were important to the development of the north end of Summit County: members of the families of four of the eight drivers of the High Line Stage Coach Route from Georgetown to Leadville, which operated from 1879 until the arrival of the railroad in 1882; administrative and operating personnel of the narrow-gauge railroads; miners; timbermen and other sawmill workers; blacksmiths; tradesmen, hotel keepers and livery operators; homesteaders and ranchers; road builders, and county officials. One "colored" Dillon town marshal Steve Edwards, was moved, at his death said to be the oldest citizen in the county.
The cemetery is heavily treed, with dirt roads running throughout. The many family plots are bordered with fences made of wooden pickets, wire, chains, bricks, concrete, metal poles, wooden rails and stones. Mini statues and mini topiaries are scattered about, and an occasional birdhouse hangs from a tree bough. To the left as one enters the cemetery beneath a wood and metal arch supported by stone pillars is a Soldiers' Plot, marked by a granite obelisk.
Directions: The Dillon Cemetery is located on Cemetery Road off State Highway 6.