Barre, A Town With Cemeteries I Want To See

On Tuesday, January 12th events conspired together that I could actually attend the local genealogical society chapter meeting where one of the members was presenting a presentation on Hope Cemetery, Barre, Vermont, USA.

Barre, VT was brought to my attention by an old National Geographic magazine zipUSA 'spot light' series. A city sustained by it's granite quarry industry, of Barre Grey Granite, the graveyards, Hope Cemetery in particular, are show cases of the granite sculptors artwork.

Hope Cemetery was established in 1895 consisting of 53 acres but has since grown in size to 65 acres and is the largest of the three graveyards managed by Barre. Beyond the restriction that all monuments must be of Barre Grey there is no limit on the markers that individuals can have erected. If you've seen pictures of a grey granite car, a grey armchair, a larger then life soccer ball, or a cube with a tree of life on one face--they all stand in Hope Cemetery.

This is why I want to visit the cemetery.

It was always why I was "dying" to attend the presentation when I learned of it some months ago as I wanted to view more of the unique stonework that Hope Cemetery has to offer. The presentation, though too short for my connoisseurs tastes, did not disappoint. Even with those limited photographs, it truly demonstrates how markers can be more then stones but stones of art.

But, beyond the images of Hope Cemetery I got in contact once again with Barb, the woman who manages the societies cemetery and burial records, and a few days later she sent me copies of their burial records! I'm thrilled to have them as I will be comparing them with information that I learn as I transcribe the surrounding graveyards. Seeing their recording system also made me add a few columns in my Excel documents and made me aware of what information they would like as I come across things that will need to be updated.

And as much as I'd love to take time to locate obituaries, if possible, for the individuals interred in "my" graveyards I think for the moment I'll stick to the markers and history book entries to glean additional information. In future years I may be able to add information as all the cemeteries will be transcribed, freeing up time for more in depth research.

Further reading:

05641: A Town of Grave Importance written by Margaret G. Zackowitz

A Tale of Two Cemeteries: Elmwood And Hope Cemetery written by Sally Cary