Post by Joanna on Jul 25, 2015 4:24:48 GMT -5
Search for Mysterious and Unusual Headstones in East Tennessee
Close to 50 graves described as mysterious and unusual are being researched by a team from the Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association. The project is focused on cemeteries and graves in McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties. The researchers describe that is something other than a traditional headstone with only a name and date as “mysterious and unusual.”
The Cedar Bluff Cemetery in Athens is the final resting place of some of the first people to call East Tennessee home. The age of the stones has contributed to serious deterioration and with it, the stories they hold are disappearing.
The executive director of the Overhill Association, Gerald Hodge, and his intern, Sydney Varajon, are leading the project. "I've always had it in my mind to do a project in three counties, looking for odd or unusual grave sites," Hodge said.
What Hodge calls "the most unusual grave" he's seen so far is a stack of half-circle stones (above). which he estimates was created in the 1870s. "According to local legends, this was likely a Native American grave," Hodge added.
The search goes beyond just shape. They are also looking for graves that have unknown symbols and mysterious epitaphs. An epitaph that caught their eye in Cedar Bluff marks the grave of a woman who died in 1929. It reads, "She was the roaring 20's." "That keyed us off to, there's a story here! And come to find out, there's a story," Hodge related
All the stories the team has discovered are set to be released in late August. However, they are finding new, peculiar shapes and inscriptions everyday and are rushing to gather as much information as quickly as possible because they're fighting against both the weather and vandals to preserve these pieces of history.
There are hundreds of cemeteries and thousands of graves in East Tennessee and the project needs your help. If you know of an unusual grave, contact the Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association at (423) 263-7232, email: info@tennesseeoverhill.com
Source: Brittany A. Bade, WBIR News, July 23, 2015.
