INTEGRITY Integrity is the ability of a property to convey its significance. Columbia Cemetery has been assessed to determine if the characteristics that shaped the site during the period of significance are present today. Integrity is evaluated according to seven aspects or qualities: location, setting, feeling, design, materials, workmanship, and association. The cemetery's cultural landscape retains integrity in all seven aspects. Location Columbia Cemetery retains integrity of location. It remains in its original location, set at the base of the Flatirons south of downtown Boulder. Setting Columbia Cemetery retains integrity of setting as a final resting place with serene surroundings. The natural setting of nearby mountains and forests remains, as does the designed setting of a formal burial ground with orderly rows of graves and paths, and lush plantings. Design The cemetery retains integrity of design. The property’s linear arrangement of roads and paths divide the cemetery into different sections and burial lots. Mature trees and lawns create a park-like space. The Pioneer Gateway and the fence and gates into the cemetery complete the design that is orderly, picturesque, and formal. This design is extant from the cemetery’s period of significance. A few alterations added after the period of significance impact the integrity of design, including the addition of iris beds along the cemetery’s edge (1970s), addition of boulders just east of Pioneer Gateway, and addition of the Volunteer Shed along the cemetery’s western side within a former road bed (2011). Over time, the arrangement of planted trees has become difficult to distinguish. The pattern of trees appears more random than was the design intent during the period of significance. Materials The cemetery’s grave markers, fencing, and gateways retain integrity of materials. The grave markers represent a lens into national and local geology, masonry, and stone carving. The variety of local materials used, including stones from several towns in Colorado including Salida and Marble, limestone from Golden, and sandstone from Lyons and Two-mile Canyon, reflect the location of active quarries at the time. 14 Historic materials are extant in the metal fence and stone Pioneer Gateway. The Maintenance Shed has been restored with some replacement of original materials. Workmanship Workmanship is evident in the details of extant features and retains integrity. Many of the grave markers were carved locally by Boulder Marble Works. Other markers were purchased from distant manufacturers in the eastern United States and display detailed stone carving techniques. Integrity of workmanship is evident also in the stone walls, and the fence and gates that have details common in Victorian-Era iron work. Feeling The cemetery retains integrity of feeling through the collection of extant features and the lack of major alterations to the property. The mature trees and perimeter fencing provide a buffer from the surrounding neighborhood and streets that makes the cemetery feel peaceful and serene. Association Columbia Cemetery retains its association with families, individuals, and the general citizenry of Boulder. The cemetery continues to be the final resting ground for many of Boulder’s founding citizens and retains connections to the greater community.
14 Winter & Company and Blackwood & Company, Columbia Cemetery Preservation Master Plan (Boulder, CO: The City of Boulder Parks and Recreation Department, 1997), 1-5.
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