Manchester to Take Ownership of Harugari Cemetery

At the last Manchester Board of Aldermen meeting, expressed an interested in assuming ownership of the Harugari Cemetery north of on Old Meramec Station Road.

City Attorney Patrick Gunn said that while the cemetery is not owned by the city, for more than 25 years the cemetery has been maintained by the city. Gunn estimated no one has been buried on the grounds in at least 40 years.

Alderman Michael Clement stated in an email that the cemetery is owned by Lodge of the Hurgari, an organization that apparently no longer exists.

"The City has tried to trace or find and identify ownership over the last several years. We have not had success with that search. Thus, the need for the city to petition the state's Attorney General to assign ownership to the city which will continue to maintain it, which we have been doing for quite a few years," Clement stated.

Recently, Gunn sent a letter to Attorney General Chris Koster asking for ownership to be released to the city and Gunn asked aldermen if they supported the city taking ownership.

Alderman are on board with the idea, so Gunn said he would move forward with the process.

"The ag will be filing an action to declare the cemetery is in fact abandoned and to transfer the the ownership ....to the city of Manchester," Gunn explained.

For more details on Monday's meeting see the agenda and supporting documents included in the PDF portion of this article.