Historical Marker

Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery

In 1857, community founder and German native, Capt. Wilhelm Frels, donated 3.9 acres at this site for the establishment of a Lutheran Church and cemetery. Members of the Frels, Becker and Fehrenkamp families, as well as other early settlers, are interred in this original section of the cemetery. The earliest known burial at the site is that of Louise Frels, who died in 1859. The cemetery was expanded in 1869 when the congregation bought an additional seven acres from Frels. Gravestone materials include marble, iron, sandstone, limestone and wood. Today, the Trinity Lutheran Church council oversees the operations of the cemetery, which continues as a reminder of colorado county’s earliest German settlement.