Scandia Cemetery (Newell County)

Located just North of the small hamlet of Scandia (approximately 26 miles south of Brooks) the Scandia Cemetery stands as a modest but meaningful testament to the region’s early settlers.

The cemetery’s earliest known interment dates back to December 1932, when a man named Jacob Westbeg was laid to rest on a portion of land that would later become the officially recognized cemetery grounds. The parcel was subsequently purchased from the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Land Company.

From its inception, the cemetery has been maintained by the Salem Lutheran Church, with record-keeping and upkeep entrusted to members of the local community of Scandia. The dedication of these local caretakers underscores the importance of the cemetery to the tight-knit community, preserving a legacy of remembrance across generations.

Scandia itself emerged alongside broader developments in the area, particularly following the construction of the Cassils branch of the CPR in 1927–28, which extended rail service from Cassils into the Scandia district. This expansion brought settlers westward, especially after World War I, enabled by irrigated farmland through initiatives like the Eastern Irrigation District, which took over water management from the CPR in 1934. Scandia’s grain elevator, constructed in the late 1920s, symbolized the region’s agricultural aspirations and remains a historic focal point in the nearby Eastern Irrigation District Museum.