Hanlan's Corner Cemetery

A tiny Victorian era cemetery is hidden in plain view at the corner of two major trucking thoroughfares— Britannia Rd. East. and Dixie Rd. in current day Mississauga, outside of Toronto.

Once a small structure called “Hunt’s Chapel” — later to be rebuilt as Trinity Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1867— overlooked these plots. But this cemetery outlasted the buildings and, indeed, the village itself. Hanlan’s Corner was eventually swallowed up and this cemetery is the only remnant of the community which began in the 1830s.

A few extant grave markers remain on the small, uneven grounds. A family plot stands isolated from the others by a wrought-iron fence. Obelisks, headstones, and gravestones mark the final resting places of the other families and members of this lost village.The earliest marked burial is 1842 with the latest reported as 1971. There are approximately 63 people buried in the grounds, although there is some question as to whether there might be more with markers lost.

Surrounded by a chainlink fence separating it from the passing traffic, the grassy patch is at odds with the fast food restaurants, gas stations, and warehouses encroaching upon it. The last remaining glimpse of the hamlet of Hanlan, Ontario is this diminutive cemetery.