McHENRY COUNTY HISTORIC PRESERVATION LANDMARK

In 1842, Apollos Thompson came to settle in this area. He then brought his wife and children from their Ohio home. His wife, Lucinda, died in 1842 prompting Thompson to set aside an acre of land for a cemetery. This cemetery was originally known as the "Thompson Buring Grounds".

The acre plot would later be consecrated and made into a community cemetery. The community burying ground would come to be called Ostend Cemetery, named after the small Dutch town that grew around it. The name was changed in 1879 to reflect community ties with the school, post office and stagecoach stop. Grave markers indicate interments representing nearly every family in the early neighborhood. Other early settlers to the Ostend area included Sherman, Abbot, Francisco, Bassett and McCollum.