The Clark Cemetery is the final resting place of many of the early pioneers of this area. Mr. & Mrs. Rufus Clark are buried there. Hannah Emily Clark was appointed first postmaster of Clark in 1889. She was asked the exact location of the post office and she gave the name "Clark". The name has remained to this day. The Norman/Whitmer families were very important in the settling and later ranching in this community. The cemetery is located on the Whitmer Ranch. Fourteen graves from these families are in the cemetery. The families of Wheeler, Keller and Roper are related and have contributed significantly to the area. There are three ex-postmasters buried in the cemetery. The first was Hannah Clark, the fourth postmaster was Mark Norman and the sixth postmaster was Solomon (Sol) Wertheimer. Clark served from 1889 to 1898, Norman from 1910 to 1911 and Wertheimer from 1919 to 1921.
From the Historical Guide to Routt County we include the following: "Clark began as a stage stop in the early 1880's and was named for Worthington Clark, co-partner in the operation of the stage stop. It became a small scattered community as ranching and mining activity in the area developed. In 1902 Jim Norvel built a Congregational Church near the Whitmer Ranch. The first store, post office and log school house were located in the same area until 1914. The store was run by a blind man named Cessna until 1914 when the store, post office and a telephone exchange were built on the Elk River at Glen Eden Bridge in a building which still stands. The Clark School was built at its present location 1915. In the early 1940's owner Jim Sayers built a new store and post office a mile south, just across the road from the present Clark Store. The telephone exchange was moved to the switchboard in Steamboat Springs in the 1940's but the store remained until it burned in the late 1940's. The Clark community included various sawmills, a blacksmith shop at the Glen Eden store and a community hall, built in 1912 by the Woodmen of the World near the Whitmer Ranch, which stood until the early 1920's. The hill above the Whitmer Ranch is the site of Clark's Pioneer Cemetery which contains the graves of many Elk River families."
For additional information on the Clark area there is a very good article in the Steamboat Magazine, 1989 Summer/Fall Vol. XI #2. It is called "100 Years of Solitude" by Harriet Freiberger, "A Centennial Tribute to Clark, Colorado".
Land records show that Claud Adolphus Smith received a homestead exemption from the US government in 1913 and patented in 1914. A prior record shows transfer from Smith to Cornelia Hart in 1909 ? This was for the NE 1/4 of the NE 1/4. This section was transferred from Smith to Drake in 1951 and later from Drake to Whitmer in 1979. The NW 1/4 of the NE 1/4 was homesteaded by Patrick Burke in 1891 and proved up in 1893. This section also passed to Ackhurst, then to Hart, then to Smith, Drake and Whitmer. The Whitmer Ranch was sold to Steve Stranahan and is now in a Land Trust. The Clark Cemetery is included in the Land Trust area.
The Clark Cemetery Assoc. was formed and is currently working to restore the site and make improvements for the continued use of the cemetery. Kathy Main, of Clark, has been the driving force in this effort.
ROUTT COUNTY CEMETERY: #RT951
COLORADO HISTORICAL SITE: #5RT951
LOCATION: 300 ft east of RCR#129
BURIALS: 86 burials with 62 inscribed stones from 1895 to 1993
CONDITION: 155 ft x 155 ft in good condition, enclosed with a fence
USGS QUAD MAP: CLARK, CO 7.5 1962 UTM 13; 337960 mE 4507360 mN
LEGASL DESCRIPTION: T9N R85W 6th PM NE 4, NE 4, NE 4 SEC 33
© 2004-2008 Roger & Joyce Cusick
National Association for Cemetery Preservation, Inc.nacpinc@hotmail.com
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