Each year my town does something that I think is wonderful and I always want to pass it along in hopes that other towns may do the same. They host a ghost tour at our oldest cemetery in town.This isn’t your typical fright fest event, it’s an event that’s educational and raises money to restore the cemetery that it takes place in helping to preserve history.
In the center of my town is the Old Burying Ground. My first visit to it was when I was little with my Girl Scout trip when I was in elementary school and that trip really fueled my love of old cemeteries and their historical value. The Old Burying Ground in my town is one of the oldest cemeteries in Massachusetts being established in 1668. It is also still in its original location. Apparently it wasn’t uncommon for old cemeteries to be moved to more convenient locations as towns were developed. I also learned that some had to be moved because of how the ground shifted. Our cemetery was originally on top of a hill that is no more. It is believed that there are about 1100 graves intact on the grounds. I can tell you that there are nowhere near that many stones there.
You can visit this old cemetery any time, but you must get the key to the old iron gates from the library. They’ve done this to help prevent vandalism on the grounds as some of the graves are incredibly old.
Our public library teamed up with our historical society each year for this event along with a bunch of volunteers. The volunteers choose someone who is buried in the cemetery to research and dress up as.
They stand in front of their graves as the tour progresses and tell us the story of who is buried there and what their life was like. They really do an amazing job and we try to make it a point each year to go. The proceeds from the event go to maintain the cemetery and it’s old gravestones.
These photos are from our visit this past weekend.
As someone who loves visiting graveyards to view the old stones and the art on them I have lost track of how many I have found that are just in shambles. The event that we do in this town is sold out each year and generates a lot of revenue through ticket sales and donations as well as helps to recruit people to donate their time to help with the stones. They have been able to raise and restore so many old stones in the cemetery through the years. It’s really incredible the difference that our town has been able to make from running this event every year and the work that the volunteers put in. Check on your cemetery in your town and see what shape it’s in. It may be something you want to suggest for your town. It’s so important to preserve our history.
Have an amazingly magickal day!
Much Love and Many Blessings,
Jasmeine Moonsong