Research and Information Center

1613 Park Avenue

Paducah, KY 42001

(270) 444-8508

-also contact-  

Parks Services Department

1400 H.C. Mathis Drive

P.O. Box 7265

Paducah, Kentucky 42002

(270) 444-8508

Feel free to call to set up appointments or tours.

Oak Grove Cemetery was established in 1847 with the purchase of 36 acres by the town's trustees for the price of $3.00 an acre.  The city-owned cemetery is now approximately 100 acres.  Paducah's first burial site was located where City Hall now stands.  The City's early growth made it necessary to seek a new location for its cemetery.  The site chosen would become Oak Grove Cemetery.  Oak Grove Cemetery has an estimated 35,278 platted lots.  Of those lots, 33,027 have been sold as of December 2006.  Oak Grove Cemetery has additional land available that has not been platted.  The cemetery is divided into four additions: Old, New, Mausoleum, and Rushing.   Oak Grove Cemetery is a free Wireless Hotspot location in the City of Paducah.

Burial Records--

Oak Grove Cemetery General Map--     Detailed Hand-Drawn Cemetery Map-- 

Oak Grove Guidelines and Regulations >>  (information about visitation, transfer of lots, monuments, headstones, and markers, and general rules and provisions)

Obituaries of Prominent Paducah Residents

Share Your Family's Story 

If you have a relative buried at Oak Grove Cemetery and would like to share your family's story for others to read, please email the information to My Family's Story.  Click here to read the stories received as of July 2010. 

History 

Cemetery History and a Few of the Interesting People Buried There--

The community fathers, hoping to create a gracious and serene sanctuary, sent to Scotland for John Porteous, a master landscaper, to design the cemetery grounds.  Mr. Porteous became so enamored with the United States that he sent word back to Scotland requesting his wife and children to join him in Paducah.  The town, honoring Mr. Porteous' dedication, made him the first sextant and built his family a cottage where the gatehouse stands today.

Some deaths were recorded in 1852, but the Civil War put a stop to this.  There are only scattered records from 1861-1911.  In 1911, Kentucky passed a law that required all deaths to be recorded.  Oak Grove Cemetery has internment books dating back to 1909.  Mary Haley (1795-1811) is the oldest legible headstone found in Oak Grove.  She is believed to have been buried at the City Hall location and reinterred in Oak Grove.

Preservation Efforts and Opportunities to Help 

Oak Grove Cemetery needs volunteers for the Sexton House, for clean up days in the cemetery, and to help with cemetery events.  If you would like to volunteer, contact Marilee Richards or Lessa Wilson at 270-444-8508.  The Oak Grove Cemetery Preservation and Restoration, Association is a 501(c)(3) organization working to preserve and restore the monuments and other aspects of Oak Grove Cemetery.  Donations can be sent to

Additional Resources 

The Kentucky Historical Society has a large database online that contains information about thousands of cemeteries throughout the State of Kentucky.  Look under Research & Genealogy and Online Resources.  Click Cemetery Preservation Digital Collection for a direct link to the Kentucky Historical Society's digital database. 

Mausoleum 

 The mausoleum in Oak Grove Cemetery is known as the West Kentucky Mausoleum.  It was built in 1914 by the Southern Mausoleum Company of Nashville, Tennessee.  The mausoleum is built to house 300.  So far, 162 crypts have been sold.  The mausoleum has been closed to the public since 1991 due to safety issues.

The Ohio Valley Monument Company started renovating the mausoleum in November 2007.  On November 12, 2008, a rededication ceremony was held inside the newly renovated mausoleum.  Click News Release for more information.  The roof has been repaired, marble has been replaced and repaired, electrical outlets have been added, and the ceilings and walls have been sanded and painted.  Burials will resume at the mausoleum in 2009. 

The monument at the entrance of the mausoleum was unveiled November 12, 2008. It reads West Kentucky Mausoleum; Dedicated to the Memory of Those Who Rest Within; Built 1914 The Southern Mausoleum Co. Nashville, Tennessee; Renovated 2008 Ohio Valley Monument Co. Paducah, KY; City of Paducah-Mayor Bill Paxton, Commissioners-Robert Coleman, Gayle Kaler, Buz Smith, Gerald Watkins; City Manager-Jim Zumwalt; Public Works Director-Earnie Via.

 Burial Records

The pdf documents below are listed in alphabetical order based on the last name.  There are two sets of documents: burials before the year 2000 and burials starting in the year 2000 until the present.  The files were last updated April 16, 2012.  Click Oak Grove Cemetery Map for a general map that shows the four additions (Old Addition, New Addition, Mausoleum Addition, and Rushing Addition) and section numbers.  Click Detailed Oak Grove Map for a hand-drawn map that shows details of each of the four additions.