La Belle Cemetery

{{short description|Cemetery in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin}}

{{Infobox cemetery

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| image = La Belle Cemetery.jpg

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| caption = One of the famous La Belle Cemetery gravesites

| map_type = Wisconsin

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| established = 1851

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| location = Oconomowoc, Wisconsin

| country = United States

| coordinates = {{coord|43.111636|-88.487477|type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-WI|display=}}

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| interments = >8,000

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| findagraveid = 88284

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La Belle Cemetery is in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.{{cite web|title=La Belle Cemetery|url=http://www.yellowpages.com/oconomowoc-wi/mip/labelle-cemetery-2013835}} Built in 1851, and originally called Henshall Place, it was the first cemetery recorded in Oconomowoc.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}} The cemetery then moved to Walnut Street. In 1864, the Wisconsin Legislature approved the removal of all the bodies from Oconomowoc Cemetery on Walnut Street to the current La Belle Cemetery grounds.{{cite book |title=Private and Local Acts and Charters of Incorporated Companies, Passed by the Legislature of Wisconsin, in the year 1864 |chapter=Chapter 164 |place=Madison |publisher=William J. Park |year=1864 |pages=68–71 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PsA4AAAAIAAJ&dq=Le+Belle+Cemetery&pg=PA69}} The land that is now the grounds for the La Belle Cemetery was first owned by Charles B. Sheldon, which he donated when the Oconomowoc Cemetery became too crowded.{{cite web|title=History of Oconomowoc|url=http://www.oconomowoc-wi.gov/index.aspx?NID=99}}

The oldest recorded stones in the cemetery have been there since the early 1800s. Some graves have no headstone and there are no records of who is buried there, just a little X marking a burial spot.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}} The most common symbols found on the headstones are religious crosses. The two mausoleums people visit are the ones for the Kohl family and the Sheldon family.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}} In the cemetery, there is a section for infants and children younger than six years old.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}} Another section was specified for the newest style headstones, which are black marble with pictures and drawings.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}