Cemeteries, Graveyards, Burying Grounds, & Churchyards
TILE helps me keep track of my keys when I misplace them in a cemetery.
While I am adept at finding lost cemeteries, I’m not always so skilled at finding my keys in a cemetery.
On more than one occasion, I’ve left my keys behind on a gravestone before wandering off to explore other areas of the cemetery.
TILE is a handy tool that helps me keep track of my keys (and my cell phone).
Fernhill Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Stuart, Florida offers tropical bauble filled trees, glinting sunbeams, and finely manicured lawns.
is blazing hot in the middle of summertime but the cooler months are completely bearable with warm breezes and glistening beams of sunshine. Palm and other tropical trees grow in the fertile soil and St. Augustine Grass makes for a soft cushion underfoot.
It was one particular warm day and one particular sunbeam that cause my attention last July when I strolled the grounds of Fernhill Memorial Gardens. I love when relatives make their family plots places of celebration. This particular plot is adorned with hanging baubles catching sunlight making a visit to this cemetery less sad.
Lebanon In The Fork Presbyterian Cemetery overlooks the muddy headwaters of the Tennessee River.
Near the confluence of the Holston River and French Broad River a church burned down in 1981. Its bell and columns were saved but, other than those items, the most enduring visual reminder of the Lebanon Presbyterian church are the tombstones of the old church cemetery.
There is a quarry nearby. Tread carefully along the well-worn footpath toward the rear of the cemetery.
Searching for Cemeteries. The adventure is in the journey….even when I don’t find the cemetery.
My cemetery hunting trips don’t always go as planned.
Last week, as I was hunting for a cemetery atop a mountain, in a storm, miles away from civilization, and without cell service, my van broke down. Luckily, I was able to turn around on the narrow mountain road. I coasted down the mountain and limped back home at 25 MPH. I found a YouTubing mechanic who has a video detailing the exact symptoms of my van’s problem.
This video does not feature a specific cemetery. Sometimes, the adventure is in the travel even if we don’t reach our intended destination.
On a chilly New Year’s Eve morning, the last day of 2015, I braved the brisk Canadian winds for a quick run along the Niagara River southward toward Horseshoe Falls. The frigid cold invigorated my lungs but, as my eyes watered, I feared my face would freeze into a block of ice.
After checking into my hotel for a 30 minute HOT shower, I ventured out into the Canadian winter for a drive to Fairview Cemetery Ontario, Canada.
I found one cemetery in John O’ Groats, Scotland.
It was a typical angst ridden summer. I’d recently graduated college where I’d spent my senior year working in a bank loan office. After graduation, I spent two months hitchhiking and riding trains throughout the British Isles on a BritRail Pass. I stayed with relatives in Liverpool for most of summer vacation but when I outstayed my welcome I would hop on a train and visit the countryside. One week, I traveled as far north as the train tracks took me and spent several nights in a Youth Hostel in John O’ Groats, Scotland. Travelling the rails and meeting other recent graduates who were trying to find themselves filled me with a desire to never stop traveling and exploring the world.
I found one cemetery in John O’ Groats, Scotland. Though I have dozens of pictures of the Youth Hostel and the countryside, I only have one picture of one gravestone.
It was a beautiful summer and I hope to get back to John O’ Groats someday soon to further explore the cemeteries there.
Stanford Cemetery in Stanfordville, New York.
On a foggy, rainy, December I stood on the crest of the hill above Stanford Church in Stanfordville, New York.
The church was closed but there were no closed gates on the long graded driveway leading into the cemetery. Birch lined the perimeter of the graveyard. Leaves are always a consideration this time of year but the grounds crews had already made short work of the autumn leaf fall. The cemetery grounds were immaculate and I enjoyed walking among the gravestones.
Rock Creek Cemetery in Polk County, Tennessee is also known as Cloud Cemetery. On USGS maps, this cemetery is listed as Price Cemetery.
Rock Creek Cemetery is also known as Cloud Cemetery. On USGS maps, this cemetery is listed as Price Cemetery.
Overlooking the junction where the Ocoee River outflows into Lake Ocoee, an abandoned cemetery sits high on a hilltop. The lack of road access to this cemetery necessitates a scramble through wooded wilderness to reach the dozen marked gravesites. Some plots can only be differentiated from the surrounding forest by their caved-in appearance. Other plots are marked with simply field stones while others, still, are marked with hand carved gravestones. One gravesite, that of Revolutionary War soldier John White, stands out among the rest with a well maintained military headstone.
Rock Creek Cemetery risks fading from memory as it fades from view; obscured by the ever encroaching Cherokee National Forest.
Here is the Google Earth file of the significant stops I made as I searched for Rock Creek Cemetery.
Click below to play video of this newest cemetery exploration adventure.
Cemetery research tool to research cemeteries.
I love cemeteries, I love technology, and I love technology that helps me research cemeteries.
Here is a video I made of a brand new cemetery research tool.
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel and this blog to keep up with my latest cemetery exploration adventures.
Google Earth .kmz file of the Cemeteries of Bermuda
Rainy day in a cemetery. It’s rained here for 4 days in a row…a bit depressing.
Google Earth is such a significant and easy-to-use graphical mapping tool that I put many of my cemetery hunting trips onto the Google Earth Servers. I made a .kmz file for Bermuda Cemeteries. It includes photographic overlays of each cemetery.
Once you have installed Google Earth onto your computer, download this Google Earth file. You will be able to tour the cemeteries of Bermuda from the comfort of your own home.
Please let me know how you like this mapping project.