Founded in 1890 as the Helena Cemetery, Forestvale Cemetery occupies 150 acres (according to current tax records) in the Helena Valley. The name was changed to Forestvale in 1901.

There are over 14,000 individuals buried at Forestvale, including many notable Montana pioneers. It is also the final resting place of motion picture star Myrna (Williams) Loy, a Helena native.

The documents listed as sources for the information presented here are available for download and/or linking at the end of this feature.

"In 1888, there were three public cemeteries in Helena, all of which were owned and operated by religious organizations: a Catholic cemetery, Jewish cemetery and the Benton Avenue Cemetery, which was generally populated by Protestants. As the city of Helena was expanding rapidly, growing from a population of 3,000 in 1880 to over 13,000 in one decade, the city government recognized the need for additional burial space outside of the city limits. During the summer of 1889, a group of Helena investors began to investigate suitable sites of the establishment of a new cemetery, and purchased 140 acres located about 2-1/2 miles from town, for $3500 from Charles C. Colber and his wife."-- National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for Forestvale Cemetery, 1990

"There were over 400 exhumations from other cemeteries reinterred in Forestvale.These reinterments came from the abandoned Catholic Cemetery south of the State Capitol, City Cemetery behind Central School, Catholic Cemetery on Oakes, Benton Avenue Cemetery and Mountain Home Cemetery. They were also removed from several ranches in the Helena area, other towns in Montana, and many were removed from Beaver Creek when Canyon Ferry Reservoir flooded the area." -- Forestvale Cemetery Tour Guide, 2003

"Originally the entrance had a castellated top, according to an etching depicting the new cemetery in the 1890 publication Helena; Its Past and Future. The words: 'The Helena
Cemetery' were cut in the stone at the top of the entrance. The name stone and the castellation may have been removed when the name of the cemetery was changed to Forestvale in 1901, or these alterations may have occurred in 1936 when post-earthquake
repairs were made on the gateway." -- National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for Forestvale Cemetery, 1990

At least one post-1901 photograph of the castellated entrance exists, so the top was likely removed after being damaged by the 1935 earthquakes. Here is the gate photographed from the northwest in 1913...

Only one lake of the two proposed was dug; it has been dry since about 1920, and in the 1930s was given over to burials. It was informally called the Sunken Garden, and is now known as the Arbor Garden section. Also never constructed was the chapel, meant to be next to the receiving vault, near the main gate.

According to another 1890 article in the Independent, the road leading to the main gate of the new cemetery, now known as McHugh Lane, was to be named Winnie Boulevard. No further mention of that name in connection with the road was found in newspaper archives.

The office building was described thusly in the 1990 National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for Forestvale:

"The office was erected during the 1890s and is a small gableroof, blonde brick building. The gable ends are clipped and the roof is covered with deteriorated wooden shingles. The office has not been used in a many years and is in poor condition. The windows are blocked with plywood. A small wooden awning covers the entrance stoop."

The building has since been torn down.

A fountain featuring a sculpture of two children, one holding an umbrella, was in front of the office building. The sculpture is now at Shodair Hospital in Helena.

Located just north of the Lakeview and Glendale sections of Forestvale is "China Row". Between 1890 and 1955, over 200 Chinese individuals were buried there. The site includes a few headstones bearing the name and place of birth of the deceased, written in a mixture of English and Chinese characters. In addition, the area has a partially intact brick funerary burner used by the Chinese to honor their dead through various cultural rituals.

The National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for Forestvale includes this about China Row:

"At the northwest corner of the cemetery grounds, a small burial ground for Chinese persons was set aside during the 19th century. Within 'China Row', at least 130 burials occurred between 1890 and 1929. After 1930, an additional 23 burials occurred in 'China Row', and seven Chinese persons were buried in other parts of cemetery, including the six members of the prominent Wong family who were buried in the Mountain View and Davidson sections of the cemetery during the late 1940s-1980s. The last burial recorded in 'China Row' occurred in 1955.

A local legend persists that the graves of persons in 'China Row' were disinterred in the 1950s and the remains were removed to China. However, no documentation has been found to substantiate this claim and physical evidence indicates that only four or five
graves in this area may have been disturbed.

Only nine marble headstones remain in the 'China Row' section, although a number of deteriorated and illegible wooden and metal markers may be found in the vicinity amidst the overgrowth. The inscriptions that note the village and county of origin of the deceased are in the Pinyin system and mark the graves of eight men and one woman, most of whom came from the Tai Shan area.

The remains of a brick oven are found amidst a heavy scatter of glass, metal clasps, buttons, and other distinctively Chinese artifacts such as bits of opium pipes and celadon porcelain in the 'China Row' section. Apparently as part of the Chinese funeral services, food would be prepared and cooked at the cemetery and placed as offerings on the graves of the deceased."

China Row, Independent Record Article 2015

Online Histories of
Forestvale Cemetery:
Archives West (historical note)
Forestvale Burial Index at Rootsweb