A state archaelogist estimates that Tennessee has 20,000 aging family cemeteries, but as many as 100 per year fall in the path of urban development. Some are bulldozed, some are moved, and a few live on in the middle of parking lots. Under state law, these sites aren't protected, and developers are not required to save the cemeteries--or their records.
Let's face it -- small family cemeteries are in danger.
- Headstones are usually the only record of these burials.
- State laws often don't protect them when they come in the way of development.
- When family members move on, these cemeteries are often forgotten.
NAMES IN STONE offers a great solution to preserve and share the records of these aging and vulnerable family cemeteries.
NAMES IN STONE's unique online mapping tools allow families, genealogists, researchers, and anyone interested in preserving these records the opportunity to create an online cemetery map.
Creating a map preserves the records in a format that makes it possible for everyone to see the cemetery as it really is -- who is buried next to whom. It's like a virtual walk through the cemetery. The records also become searchable, so records that were previously unknown are now available for everyone to see and use for research.
Creating an online cemetery map is easy, quick, and permanent. It's a great way to safeguard these priceless records and share them with the world.
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Here's an example:
One NAMES IN STONE user mapped a family cemetery in southeastern Idaho. This is her drawing of the cemetery:
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And this is the cemetery on NAMES IN STONE after she created her map.
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We encourage our NAMES IN STONE users to take advantage of our mapping tools to document these aging family cemeteries. Let's put them on the map!
Click here to learn more about creating a cemetery map on NAMES IN STONE.
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