Cemeteries

The City of Carbondale has two municipal cemeteries: Oakland Cemetery on North Oakland Avenue and the historic Woodlawn Cemetery on East Main Street. In Fiscal Year 2014, as the Illinois 2010 Cemetery Oversight Act required, the cemetery Sexton was licensed as a Cemetery Manager with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR).

Additionally, Woodlawn Cemetery was registered as a fully exempt cemetery, and Oakland Cemetery was registered as a partially exempt cemetery with IDPFR. During Fiscal Year 2014, the Sexton continued to keep records as required by the 2010 Cemetery Oversight Act, maintain and update computerized records, and enter burial records into the State of Illinois’s online cemetery database.

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Oakland Cemetery

Open daily, sunrise to sunset, Oakland Cemetery is beautifully landscaped and well-maintained. It provides space for persons wishing to purchase a single space or an entire family lot of eight spaces. The current price for one grave space is $450. Restrictions concerning the placement and size of monuments vary depending on the location. Persons interested in purchasing a space should personally visit the Cemetery.

The Cemetery Sexton will show you the areas available for purchase and explain the restrictions on monuments. Sexton hours are Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Closed noon to 1 p.m.). After selecting a lot(s), payment is made at City Hall in the City Clerk's Office. A deed for the space will be signed by the Mayor and forwarded to you promptly. View the Cemetery grave fees chart (PDF).

Woodlawn Cemetery

The first Memorial Day service in Illinois, and perhaps in the country, to honor those who had died in the Civil War occurred in Woodlawn Cemetery on April 29, 1866. The City maintains the Cemetery, and Memorial Day services are observed yearly. Woodlawn Cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Places and the Carbondale Register of Historic Sites.

Burials are no longer allowed at Woodlawn Cemetery. The Cemetery is open from dawn to dusk. There are over 60 Civil War graves and 30 formerly enslaved people, and others buried at Woodlawn. Together, there are about 150-200 graves on the site.