Hulett Cemetery
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The Hulett Cemetery Association was organized as a non-profit organization I the early 1900s. The plot of ground where the cemetery is located was donated by Mrs. Jeremiah P. Bush, one of the early pioneers in this community. Later, additional ground was needed and this was donated by Bill C. Bush. The cemetery is located about one mile northeast of the town of Hulett.
The only source of income to the Association was the sale of cemetery plots at $10.00 each, which did not provide income for maintenance such as hiring a caretaker and providing a sprinkler system for watering the grounds. In 1968, the Hulett Lions Club, for one of its projects, decided to help the Associaion improve and beautify the cemetery. They were successful in getting the Teton Exploration Drilling Company of Casper, Wyoming to drill and case a water well with the Lions club paying only $421.87, the cost of the casing. After flowing water was obtained the Lions Club had Industrial Engineering Company of Rapid City design a sprinkler system which cost $400. Necessary supplied cost an additional $657.75. The installation of the system was accomplished in full by donation work from the club’s members. Donations of money from owners of cemetery plots and others helped to defray the above costs. Since 1968, the Association has been able to hire a caretaker to mow and water the grounds during the summer months. Funds to pay the caretaker’s salary are obtained by billing lot owners at an annual rate of $10.00 for each lot owned. The Association also purchased a riding mower and a push type rotary mower. A good stand of blue grass has been established in the cemetery. For the last three years, the water level in the well has been going down until only one sprinkler could be operated at times. The well, which is drilled to a depth of 680 feet, provided flowing artesioan water, but the well was cased with a 2-inch pipe which does not allow the installation of a deep-well pump. To install a larger casing would involve a large sum of money, so it was decided to install a pumping system from the Belle Fourche River which is only 490 feet from the cemetery. On March 1, 1976, the Association made an application to the Bicentennial Committee for a $750.00 grant to install a water system from the Belle Fourche River to the cemetery. Matching funds of $750.00 had already been promised from the community. The summer of 1984, the water system was not in shape to use, so no watering was done. Mowing was done, however, and the cemetery looked real nice all summer and fall. (from “Hulett Area Past and Present” – printed 1985) |
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