Wildwood Cemetery

  This area belongs to the Moorheads. Frances and Lucien built the house my mother has lived in for 48 years. They were the only owners other than my mother. Lucian died in in 1940 and his wife lived  alone for 21 years before she died.  I only find two stones with the Brockway name on them. One is here. Olive Brockway was married to  Robert Moorehead at a time when Brockway was still Brockwayville.  One of the Moorehead wives was born in Camus, Ireland. Judging by the size and style of the headstones, the family must have held some prominence in the area at some point.
*****Click on the photo above to see more of this cemetery.

Wildwood Cemetery, Brockway

  This is one of my favorite cemeteries. It's at the end of  Maple Street, making it a "dead end street", wink, wink. When I was a kid, my mom had friends on this street and we visited them often. All the kids on the street would ride bikes to the cemetery. Sometimes we'd play tag, hide and seek or just find a spot, drop our bikes and sit and talk.  It was never a creepy place to any of us. As I got older, I've always felt drawn to it. It is part of a somewhat traditional walk for our family. We go up 5th Ave (the only street in Brockway with steps), across the last street on the top of the hill toward the water tower, then up through the woods, into Miller's fields, and down over the hill and into the cemetery. And for any Geocachers, there are two caches hidden in this area. I've taken my nephews (now 33) this way many times as they grew up, and then my own kids and now my nephews kids, making it a three generation jaunt.  I often walk there because it has sloping hills and it's so peaceful, really clears my head. Wildwood is so familiar to me that I had never taken the time to photograph it so last week I spent almost 3 hours there, doing just that. I walked in and tried to look at it like I would any new cemetery. To really see what I normally walk right past.Wildwood Cemetery Brockway PA

St. Marks

Today St. Marks was briefly visited. Driving East from Oil City on 322, I saw a sign for St Mark's Memorial Chapel on the left. I thought there might be a cemetery there so I turned around and went back and sure enough, I was right. It's an interesting little place. If you look in the back of this pic, you can see a few stones leaning against the wall of the church. Unfortunately I didn't have much time. I took a few pics and put it on my list of Must Return to Places. Look for future updates.

Maybe a biased opinion

While I may not know nor understand the technological steps in making a Tombstone, I do recognize craftsmanship. With the advancement of technology and the modern computer age, one can really see the impact of technology in tombstone construction.

With the ability to create near perfection comes the ease to become more descriptive and more straight to the point. More cookie cutter if you will - leaving less to the imagination. Once works of art that told a story, modern tombstones or headstones craftsmanship has seemingly taken a back seat to perfection. More modern tombstones are very perfect. Almost to the point of being an annoyance. They bear pictures engraved into the stone, with perfect edges, graphics of trucks, animals or a statue of the deceased. All great tributes in their own right. But, one thing seems to be lacking, character. They almost seem too perfect and leave no mystery or paint no unseen picture like the monuments of our forefathers.

It's blatantly evident if you visit several cemeteries over a short period of time. The newer architectural designs stand out, for leaving nothing to the imagination; though they do tell a story, it's right there for you to read. However, it doesn't leave the viewer wanting to know more, or wondering what that person was truly about or how they passed. Usually the picture and story in modern headstones is there for you, all you ever want to know about the deceased.

On our "cemetery walks" for http://www.cemeteryblog.com  we have really taken notice of the less imaginative displays.   Several times in my excursions to cemeteries we have taken notice of the grandeur. Older tombstones paint a picture, they give you a glimpse, a short look to leave you wonder. Although, some are not spectacular works of art, they tug at your heart and mind prompting more, creating and giving you a story, wanting to know more, feel more. We have seen simple stones bearing, "Baby Deloe" nothing else,

 what could the story here entail - tell us more. The mind still wanders, it tries to create a scenario but there is no closure. A modern marvel can give you a picture, the story and the conclusion. A nice tribute but no room to wonder or expand on - closed case. I imagine that even one day folks will have an LED screen playing computer generated graphics or video of our loved ones. For some that's great, maybe that will be the headstones of the future, after all the possibilities are endless.

Not to belittle the modern tributes, they say what the deceased's mourners wish to let everyone know about the life and memory of that person.

Maybe I am biased but, old time history, craftsmanship, architecture & stories are what make cemeteries come alive for me and what keeps me wanting to discover and experience more of them.

Oakwood Cemetery

Check out the photos of Oakwood Cemetery in Our Slideshow Gallery. A quaint little resting spot between Franklin & Cochranton, PA. It isn't visible from the highway so keep your eyes open for Green Acres Golf Club sign, that is the correct road just past the church. It looks a little creepy at first but is a very quiet graveyard. There are old and new burials here and it is very tiny, so if you have a few minutes to get off the beaten path this is the spot for you.

Greendale's A. Buchanan

Greendale Cemetery - Alexander Buchanan died 1810

Greendale - M. A. Torbett

Mary A. Torbett died 1827 - Greendale Cemetery

Greendale Art Deco Monuments

Walker Monument - Very Art Deco - 1930s 

Moose - Greendale

John Hickman tombstone 1867 - Loyal Order of Moose Lodge 99

Gen. David Mead

General David Mead Founder of Meadville, PA

Greendale's Civil War Vets

Many Civil War vets in Greedale, like George W. Franklin

Greendale Chapel

While at Greendale we checked out the tiny Chapel, probably used for services in years past. Check out the detail on this door knob, we only notice after we uploaded the photos.

St. Agatha

At some point on our excursion through the cemetery, without our noticing the grounds became the St. Agatha Cemetery.

Greendale - Native American Soldier

Jacob Sann - 1940 Indian

Rhododendrons of Greendale

1903 grave in thick of rhododendrons - we saw many of those with the bushes totally encompassing the tombstone.

St. Agatha's Beauty

A picturesque monument in St. Agathas Cemetery

Greendale's Huidekoper

The first vision after passing through the Greendale gates is an open Huidekoper masoleum is a spectacular site

Greendale Cemetery

Greendale Cemetery Meadville PA  - Sat. Oct. 23 2010.

New Photos of Lakeview Cemetery In our Galley

We just posted some great new amazing photos in our Gallery for Lakeview Cemetery, Cleveland OH. Donna did an amazing job on these!

Cry Baby Cemetery

This is a very old tiny Cemetery with more stories and rumors than thought possible. GPS Coordinates:

latitude 41°12'24.42"N
longitude 79°34'37.25"W
Its on Triangle road from one way but if your coming from the other way its Garris road, its very small 20 or so headstones, so keep watch. We never experienced any of the sights or sounds others have reported but was very interesting to actually visit. In Salem Township- also known as Triangle Cemetery and Pickwick Cemetery

Monroe Cemetery - Friendly Folks

Here is the gallery for Monroe Cemetery. While searching for Cry Baby Cemetery we came across this gem of a  resting place near a beautiful church and some friendly folks who gave us access to the scenic church. What an amazing place and great people.

Phipps Cemetery

Phipps Cemetery was a great little cemetery we came across on this warm fall day  Check this link for exact location:.hl=en&q=phipps+cemetery,+pa&ie=UTF8&hq=phipps+cemetery,&hnear=Pennsylvania&ll=41.277371,-79.543097&spn=0.005273,0.013883&t=h&z=16

Pioneer Cemetery Franklin, PA

Check out all the photos in our gallery here One Of My Favorite Spots
This place was so rich with history and with a great sense of insight into the early settlers life. It seriously is a must see.

Check Out Franklin Cemetery in Rocky Grove

Large Cemetery In Franklin, PA

Ok today would be an amazing day to go cemetery exploring...beautiful day!!