Jackson offers burial 'niches' in Russell Heights Cemetery

The increasing popularity of cremation when making funeral arrangements has been noticed by the City of Jackson.

Earlier this month, the city added a columbaria section to the northwest part of Russell Heights Cemetery on Route PP, with a gazebo nearby suitable for small memorial services.

On Aug. 17, the city’s Board of Aldermen considered rules and regulations to govern the sale and maintenance of the new area of the cemetery, a 12-acre parcel originally purchased from the James Russell family.

Three columbaria structures have been erected, each one with 48 compartments to hold ashes.

The section of the 100-year-old graveyard has been laid out to accommodate more columbaria if deemed necessary.

Dwain Hahs, Jackson mayor since 2015, said cremation appears to be the wave of the future.

“In the United States,” Hahs said, “50% of all burials involve cremations,” adding he expects the trend to continue.

The Cremation Association of North America (CANA) said just 5% of all funerals involved cremation in the early 1970s.

Since the Roman Catholic Church began to allow the practice following the reforms of Vatican II, the number of families opting for cremation has steadily grown.

The COVID-19 pandemic has jolted the funeral home industry with CANA suggesting the current health emergency has accelerated the culture’s comfort level with cremation.

During the Roman Empire, cremation was widely practiced with remains lodged in urns placed in columbarium-type buildings, CANA’s website states.

The earliest Christians frowned on the practice and by 400 A.D., earth burial had far overtaken cremated ashes, referred to in the funeral business as “cremains,” according to CANA.

Modern cremation as it is done today began in the early 20th century after years of research into the development of a dependable chamber to reduce a body to ashes, CANA’s website states.

The trend toward the use cremation for final disposition is seen in the numbers, according to CANA.

• In 1913, there were 52 crematories in North America, 10,000 cremations.
• In 2009, there were 2,100 North American crematories, 900,000 cremations.
• By 2010, just under 37% of all U.S. deaths were handled via cremation.
• By 2020, the figure was expected to rise to over half of all American deaths, which is the figure quoted by Hahs.
• The first U.S. crematory was built in Washington, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, in 1876.

Each compartment, or “niche,” in the Russell Heights columbaria section is 12-by-12-by-12 inches.

Each niche is available only to individual purchasers and will not be sold commercially to an entity intending on resale.

Hahs said given the growth of Jackson and the heightened interest in cremation, Russell Heights Cemetery “should have more than 30 years’ worth of burial sites available.”

The sale price of a columbarium niche, Hahs added, is not based on residency in Jackson.