Klondike Cemetery Restoration

During the Gold Rush, around 1900, Dawson City was a sprawling metropolis of 40,000 people, with a Jewish community of about 200.  In 1902, the Dawson City Jewish Society successfully petitioned the government of Canada for land overlooking the city in order to establish Beth Chaim cemetery.

Today, the cemetery is in terrible condition.  Only one of the seven known graves is clearly visible; the cemetery is overgrown; the original picket fence is decrepit; and any path through the cemetery is difficult to follow.

On August 22, 1998, however, the Jewish Historical Society of the Yukon rededicated the cemetery after extensive repairs and restoration which cost $40,000.
 
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Updated: 1-7-99