Union Miners Cemetery & Mother Jones Monument

Miners killed in the Virden Mine Riot were denied burial in the established cemeteries. In response, the local union purchased a one acre site and the bodies were moved to the new Union Miner’s Cemetery in 1899. Over the years, additional land was acquired and a monument was dedicated on October 11, 1936. The cemetery is the final resting place of Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, a fierce advocate for the rights of both miners and children. Before her death at the age of 100 in 1930, Mary Jones requested to be buried with “her boys” – the coal miners that she championed for decades. The cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.