A historic graveyard in Pennsylvania is being threatened by a large sinkhole. There is the possibility that the graves will need to be exhumed. If so, then this could make it difficult for genealogists to record the information on the graves, and to connect it to where they have been relocated.
In Allentown, Pennsylvania, a large sinkhole has formed. It is around 50 feet long, and 30 feet wide, and it appears to be growing. As you may expect, the sinkhole is causing the town lots of problems. A dozen homes have been vacated, and 25 people have been evacuated. The sinkhole caused a water main break, which damaged the homes.
The sinkhole is also causing big problems for the Union and West End Cemetery. The sinkhole is encroaching on the cemetery. If authorities detect shifts or collapses in the soil, there is the potential that the graves could be excavated. A court order to do so has been secured, which will allow the County Coroner to give the order to exhume the graves if it is necessary.
The Union and West End Cemetery is a historic one. Many of the graves in this cemetery are from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s. About 60 graves are currently threatened by the sinkhole, which has caused some headstones to tilt. There are depressions in the ground, and breaks in the ground of the cemetery.
The cemetery itself is 157 years old. It contains about 20,000 graves, and 174 are the graves of Civil War veterans. It seems that there could be unmarked graves within the cemetery, as well.
Volunteers have started taking photos of the threatened gravestones. Before the sinkhole appeared, volunteers did a survey. Right now, there are no detailed historical records about who is buried in the cemetery except for the graves that currently have headstones. As you can probably expect, many of those headstones have become damaged by time and weather, and have become difficult to read.
It is always sad when graves have to be exhumed and relocated. People expect that their loved ones will remain “at rest”, in that specific location, forever. No one wants to hear that graves are being disturbed, even if there is little choice but to move them.
For genealogists, this means that some of the information about the people buried in this historic cemetery could be lost, forever. It sounds as though some of it is already gone. If there really are unmarked graves in the cemetery, then there will be some genealogical mysteries to solve in order to determine who those people were.
Most people assume that a graveyard will be there, undisturbed, forever. The sudden appearance of the sinkhole is a reminder that nothing remains forever. Genealogists can take this story as a good reason to visit the graves of their relatives and ancestors, and to take photos of their gravestones. Record that information while it is still available.
Image by Michael Thielmeier on Flickr