Burial Association Services
normweaver.bagpiper.com
easternmemorials.com
Grave Care by State
saveagrave.net/gravesitecaregivers
Preservation
Cemeteries have been a fixture on the American landscape as long as people have inhabited the land. Native American burial mounds dot the American landscape throughout the US east coast. The Southwest has an abundant amount of monuments to fallen leaders.
Graveyards have changed with time, starting with the Europeans who came to explore and settle the New World in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
As the churchyards and graveyards of the early 1800’s became overcrowded, a new concept of a planned and landscaped cemetery emerged. They would be located on the outskirts of town, with rolling hills, trees, flowers and some with water features as a retreat for the living. The first “rural cemetery” was Mt. Auburn in Massachusetts in 1831. It was common for visitors to picnic, take carriage rides or go for walks in the cemetery. By the Victorian era, almost every community had at least one rural cemetery.
Cemeteries can act as a textbook of civic history. Graveyards provide us with a large amount of information regarding the life of a person or family group. Through word and symbols, gravestones can give us insight with names, birth and death dates, occupations, ethnicity or nationality, and religious traditions. Sometimes the stones list survivors, providing additional genealogy. Gravestones as a whole, reflect community change, trade patterns, technological development, tragedies, religious evolution and changing artistic tastes.
Let us all do our part to preserve our country’s historical markers and monuments for future generations. Gravesite Guardians would be honored to help preserve your family’s history.
Visit these websites for more history on cemeteries & preservation:
