Prince Albert may be home to nine unmarked burial sites, says historical society

The Prince Albert Historical Society says an unmarked burial site likely lies in the city's Kinsmen Park. (Prince Albert Historical Society)

Prince Albert may be home to the most unmarked gravesites per capita in Saskatchewan, the city’s historical society says.

The historical group estimates at least nine unmarked burial sites, including one uncovered 12 years ago and another suspected site at Kinsmen Park scatter Prince Albert.

“People don’t realize, when they walk through a park such as this, that landscapes can have a vastly different history from what we see right now,” Tim Panas, with the Prince Albert Historical Society, said while standing in Kinsmen Park.

A jail used to own the land where the park is now located, and while no confirmed records exist, Panas said if a prisoner died but was not claimed by any friends or family, the prisoner would likely be buried on the land.

He pointed to one prisoner convicted of murder and hanged at the jail in 1912.

“His body was never claimed. It was supposedly placed in the agricultural lands here.”

An unmarked cemetery with 21 graves was discovered 12 years ago at what is now the city’s forestry centre. The burials are believed to have happened in the 1860s.

Panas said he knows uncovering the history of the suspected sites will be difficult. Records of the burials either don’t exist or are difficult to find.