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The Colon Lakeside Cemetery is
Michigan Historical Landmark S772 and is the home to more magicians than any other cemetery in the world. The cemetery was founded sometime in the mid 1800's and currently has over 2,300 graves. The cemetery is divided into 7 sections that run parallel to each other with dirt roads in between the sections. Currently 50 famous and not so famous magicians are buried here. The cemetery has several nick names including "The Magicians Graveyard", "The Final Act", and "The Magic Graveyard" just to name a few.
We do not know who did the first magicians graveyard tour, but the earliest recorded tour was in 1993 by Karrell Fox for a documentary on the Magic Get Together. Before this, the tour was done in secret at midnight during the Get Together and only magicians attended. Three or four new magicians would also be invited to ensure that the tour would continue after the elder magicians have passed.
In 2008 Abbott's decided to have a formal cemetery tour that would be on the schedule for that years Get Together. Abbott's asked magician Al The Only to host this tour, since he was the one being given the tour in the documentary mentioned above by Karrell Fox. Abbott's thought it could be a "passing of the torch" with Al and they were certainly proven right. Al The Only has been giving the tour annually during the Get Together now for over a decade and has authored a book on the tour called "The Magic Graveyard". Under Al The Only's watch the cemetery tour has truly reached new heights and popularity so much so that everyone wants a tour!
Al's tour happens on Thursday during the Get Together, but there are others in Colon who can give the tour if given notification. With the "Magic Graveyard" so popular now, a way was devised so that people visiting the cemetery could do their own tours and this has been very successful. Now no matter the size of the group, they can conduct their own tour and see pictures and videos of the cemetery patrons during their time alive on this planet. The magicians of Colon refer to this as Magic's "Final Act" and it is done with QR codes on the backs of the grave markers in the summer months and also in the Colon Tour books.
In 2024, the state of Michigan acknowledged the historical significance of the "Magic Graveyard" and in 2025 erected a marker at the entrance of the cemetery. Below is what is written on that marker.
THE MAGIC GRAVEYARD - The first magic entertainers buried at Lakeside Cemetery were residents of Colon who had worked for Harry Blackstone's show. In 1942 Skippy LaMore became the first magician buried here. The tradition of magicians being buried at the "Magic Graveyard" began after the 1965 burial of Harry Blackstone. Because the cemetery was only for residents of Colon, non residents who wished to be buried here had to apply to the city fathers, wait for a vote to be taken, and pay an additional fee if approved. These restrictions were removed in 2000. In June 2019 an additional section of thirty two plots was set aside for magicians. The cemetery has become a pilgrimage site for magicians who visit to perform Broken Wand Ceremonies and place magic related items at the unique headstones of the more than forty eight magicians interred here by 2026.
TOUR BUSES PLEASE DO NOT PARK ON GRAVEL ROAD AS IT TEARS UP THE GRAVEL. PLEASE PARK ON THE GRASS BEHIND THE MARKERS.
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