Springfield was founded in 1850 with up to 2000 inhabitants, but its decline soon began largely because of the foreign miner’s tax. The cemetery on a hill above the town was first used in 1852, and the last burial there was in 1997. Of the 34 known graves, nine were children under the age of six, and many of the graves are unmarked. In recent years the cemetery had been neglected until Columbia Parlor #258 began regular maintenance as a parlor activity.