History
The Ione Public Cemetery has been known as the Ione Protestant Cemetery, Ione Community Cemetery, and Ione Community-Protestant Cemetery. It was established in 1849 to accommodate settlers who began to occupy the Ione Valley during the California Gold Rush. While Ione was not a location where gold was found, or even seriously sought, it was a commercial center which supplied the gold seekers a short distance east in the Sierra Nevada foothills with the provisions they needed. It began as property owned, most likely, by Thomas Rickey and was surrounded by agricultural land conducive to the raising of livestock and growing crops desired by the miners up the hill. It was then sub-divided and sold to entrepreneurs who built grain mills, a brewery, a creamery, hotels and other businesses that naturally develop when a small village grows into a town and becomes a city. As soon settlers took root in the small village, there was need for a cemetery. So, the Ione Cemetery was established in 1850, whereas the establishment of Ione City did not come about until 1853. At that time the entire area was part of Calaveras County. It wasn’t until June 14, 1854 that the Ione Public Cemetery became part of the newly formed Amador County.
As the town grew, churches were established. At that time most church groups were thought to be divided into two major categories, Protestant and Catholic. The Catholic beliefs dictated that a cemetery dedicated solely to the perpetual care of their members should be set aside. Thus, the Ione Catholic Cemetery was established about the same time as the public cemetery, directly across the street from the Ione Public Cemetery.
In 1943 the Amador County Board of Supervisors established Township #2 Public Cemetery District, which formed a tax base for public cemetery operation in the western end of the county. Today the cemetery is a part of this district, dedicated to providing burial plots, cremation sites, and mausoleum vaults for the deceased of the district, as well as perpetual care for all interred in its cemeteries. In 2012, the Catholic Cemetery was removed from the Township # 2 Cemetery district management and only the Ione Public Cemetery is managed under that District.
