Pioneer Memorial Cemetery, Cincinnati

{{Short description|Historic cemetery in Hamilton County, Ohio, US}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Columbia Baptist Cemetery

| nrhp_type =

| image = PioneerCemet014.jpg

| caption = Gravestone of Major Benjamin Stites.

| location = Cincinnati, Ohio

| coordinates = {{coord|39|06|23|N|84|25|44|W|source:GNIS|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Ohio#USA

| area =

| built = 1790

| architect =

| architecture =

| added = August 24, 1979

| mpsub = Columbia-Tusculum MRA

| refnum = 79002709{{NRISref|2008a}}

}}

The Pioneer Memorial Cemetery (also known as Columbia Baptist Church Cemetery) is a historic pioneer cemetery in the Columbia-Tusculum neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is located on a small hill overlooking Lunken Airport{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UusCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54 | title=Restoration Heaven: Columbia-Tusculum is a Hot Spot for Painted Ladies | work=Cincinnati Magazine | date=October 2002 | access-date=2013-05-08 | author=Agran, Hannah | pages=54}} at 333 Wilmer Avenue on Cincinnati's east side.

The oldest cemetery in Hamilton County,{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dW-52BWC4LoC&pg=PA245 | title=Cincinnati, a Guide to the Queen City and Its Neighbors | date=1943 | access-date=2013-05-04 | author=Federal Writers' Project | author-link=Federal Writers' Project | pages=245| isbn=9781623760519 }} it lies at the site of Columbia Baptist Church, founded in 1790. Columbia is the oldest settlement in Hamilton County, as it was founded in 1788, one month before Losantiville (later Cincinnati).{{cite news | url=http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/12/29/loc_loc1acolumb.html | title=Columbia Tusculum redo planned | newspaper=The Cincinnati Enquirer | date=December 29, 2003 | access-date=8 June 2014 | author=Edwards, Jennifer}} The cemetery is the only extant remnant of the Columbia settlement.{{cite web | url=http://www.cincinnatiparks.com/pioneer-memorial-cemetery | title=Pioneer Memorial Cemetery | publisher=Cincinnati Park Board | access-date=8 June 2014}}

Included in this cemetery is the grave of Major Benjamin Stites, 1734–1804, founding father of Columbia. The fellow founder of Columbia and pioneer, soldier, and legislator Ephraim Kibbey (1756–1809) is memorialized here on the monument "To the First Boat-load" erected in 1879.{{cite book|last1=Howe|first1=Henry|title=Historical Collections of Ohio ... an Encyclopedia of the State: History Both General and Local, Geography with Descriptions of Its Counties, Cities and Villages, Its Agricultural, Manufacturing, Mining and Business Development, Sketches of Eminent and Interesting Characters, Etc., with Notes of a Tour Over it in 1886. Illustrated by about 700 Engravings. Contrasting the Ohio of 1816 with 1886–90, Volume 1|date=1908|publisher=State of Ohio|page=809|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9lPiAAAAMAAJ|access-date=24 December 2014|ref=Howe}}

Frederick L. Payne, then Supervising Horticulturalist for the Park Board, began a restoration project in 1967 for the cemetery.

The cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under its historic name of "Columbia Baptist Cemetery".

Since 1958, the Pioneer Cemetery has been known as an archaeological site — in that year, evidence was discovered that the terrace upon which the cemetery lies was once a Native American village site. Due to the presence of the cemetery, no excavation has ever been conducted there; consequently, all that is known about the village is that it was inhabited during the Woodland period.Columbia-Tusculum Historical Society–Miami Purchase Association. {{NRHP url|id=64000615|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Columbia-Tusculum Multiple Resource Area}}. National Park Service, 1978-10-27. Accessed 2011-02-25.

The Cincinnati Parks Department maintains the property.