Periodically we publish an e-mail newsletter that contains items such as the following: Upcoming special events and programs Maple Grove Heritage Association updates Biographies of famous people interred at Maple Grove Cemetery Gardening and lawn care tips If you are interested in receiving our newsletter, simply fill out the following form and submit it.   PLEASE NOTE: We value your privacy, therefore we do not give away or sell this information to any company, mailing list or other entity. This information is used for the sole purpose of serving your needs. The role of the cemetery changes along with popular thought. It has been refreshing to see a revival of public interest in our most historic cemeteries, for it is indicative of an expanding appreciation of our local history. Our cemeteries are the most permanent of institutions; however, they are vulnerable to the ravages of time and neglect. If preserved, they can serve us far beyond their most essential purpose. Cemeteries are an invaluable link to our past and to our very essence. Eric Cale, a fifth generation Wichitan, has his BFA from Wichita State University. Mr. Cale served as the General Manager of Maple Grove Cemetery from 1989-2004. Maple Grove attained non-profit status in the early 1960's and is operated by the same organization under which it was originally founded. The cemetery organization sees itself not only as providing an important community service, but also as a unique cultural and historical resource, fully committed to an active role in fostering public interest in history and preservation. An article from an 1887 edition of the Sunday Growler, an early Wichita newspaper, stated that the cemetery had been put there contrary to the wish of its present owner, for I have heard him say there were fifteen graves there when he took the ground as a government claim, and every additional grave for some time was made under his protest and with the promise from the city to remove them later to a site to be selected by the city. Failing this, the owner finally platted it and it became known as the City Cemetery. The owner referred to in the article was a farmer named Peter Smith, who formally platted the lots of twelve graves each, laying out the grounds in a plain symmetrical grid, and establishing the Wichita Cemetery Company in 1872. In 1899, Smith sold the property, by then known as Highland Cemetery, to a public-minded group of local investors. The investor group, Principals of Maple Grove, ultimately handed Highland over to a lot owners association in 1908 under allegations that it was illegal to operate the cemetery for financial gain, of which there had been little, if any. The association struggled to maintain the 30-acre cemetery until giving up in 1983, when their maintenance contractor quit and the last available spaces were sold. During 1997, only six interments took place at Highland. Today the City of Wichita provides for the maintenance of this historic site. Of the approximately 17,000 people buried at Highland Cemetery, perhaps the most nationally recognized would be Buffalo Bill Mathewson, the original Buffalo Bill, and Sidney Toler, the motion picture actor who starred as Charlie Chan.