More landscapes

Some more pictures of cemetery landscapes without any particular focus on the headstones.

From (the gorgeous) Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, GA:

From Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester, NY:

From St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery:

Related post:
Overview

Typography

Usually headstones are carved in some basic, easy-to-read typeface. Maybe it most resembles Helvetica, maybe Times New Romans-- to non-typography geeks, it's pretty bland and consistent. The exceptions I have found...


From Myrtle Hill Cemetery, Syracuse:

From Walnut Grove Cemetery, Syracuse (not to be confused with Jamesville Walnut Grove):

a bit blurry; apologies-- my camera doesn't fare well without flash

From Onondaga Valley Cemetery, Syracuse:

From Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester:

Also has a fun epitaph!

And finally, as I had wondered about why I only ever found English-language, Roman alphabet, and Euro-centric names on headstones...

Chinese calligraphy!

Couple marries in cemetery

OAKLAND -- Maggie and Colin Adams were married Saturday afternoon before thousands of people, living and dead.

Other couples might choose to celebrate their union in a ballroom or at a vineyard, but for the two Oakland artists, there was no place more fitting than the 147-year-old Mountain View Cemetery, aside the elaborate crypts that make up "Millionaires Row."

Read the rest of the story here.

(My second posted news item, which I'm not really wont to do-- I want this blog to focus on artistic headstones. There's plenty of other places to find other cemetery topics. However, particularly neat stories get a pass.)

Lionized memorials

Two lion statues, half of which actual mark a grave:

From Oakwood Cemetery:

Hidden on the hillside near the old chapel, surrounded by trees (it's basically invisible right now with summer foliage), is the Haggerty lion. I've been keeping the lion and its ward company this month... it's a nice, secluded place to read and think.

You can read the lion's history here.

Of note to me: "Michael had originally been buried at St. Mary's in DeWitt, but the authorities responsible for the diocese cemeteries objected to the monument." No wonder I have only 5 pictures from St. Mary's, one of which is a landscape view.

From Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, GA:

The sleeping lion, memorial to the "unknown Confederate dead."

Things Fall Apart

Various scenes of damage and decay from cemeteries (obviously far from exhaustive, considering the sheer number of worn-out or crumbled markers out there). I'm also testing out the "caption" feature on the pictures that did not used to be there.


From Rome Cemetery, Rome, NY:

Once a (presumably) lamb, now beheaded, though the base outline remains.

From Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester, NY:

Not so much damage, but those stones are definitely being shoved around by that tree.

Obviously very pretty once, but now it's all worn down.

From Oakwood Cemetery, Syracuse, NY:

A massive tree tipped over, though it seems to have missed just about every headstone in the area.

Just to try to show some scale.

Once a big, stout obelisk now lies in 4 pieces.

The top of this obelisk has rather neatly rotated about 45 degrees.

Half-hidden and headless

Another felled obelisk.

And my favorite, with double damage: the statue has lost her head and the arch has lost its urn.

Heavy on Oakwood only because it's large and close and I've walked it the most of any of these. This post is also not meant to be commentary on my lack of updates this summer. :)

Related post:
Headless

Tombstones Go Digital

WAYNESBURG, Pa. -- The concept of barcodes on tombstones and interactivity at the cemetery was considered too far-fetched when Glenn Toothman first traveled to funeral industry conferences 10 years ago.
"Nothing in the death-care business happens too quickly," he said.
After years of waiting, technological developments have finally allowed Toothman to get to a point of "rebirth" for his Waynesburg company, the Memory Medallion.

....

Neat idea. Read the rest of the store here.