Category: Community Studies

Observing the Memorial Arts and History in Old Cemeteries

Often when I visit an unfamiliar community for work or vacation, I will pause during my stay to visit the local cemetery.  These old burial grounds are representative of the collective history of a place, and they provide fascinating insight into era and geographically specific cultural norms, artistic values, ethnic influences, and community history.

A walk through these quiet places can be valuable for research or  enjoyable strolling as one observes these surviving relics from an earlier generations.  Depending on the pace of change in a town, the memorials are often some of the last tangible links to the past.

In New England, a region with plenty of fascinating graveyards, the central Vermont region has some particularly notable places.  In Montpelier the spacious park-like setting of Green Mount Cemetery with its many shade trees and ornamental shrubs, has many memorials to catch one’s gaze.    Nearby in Barre, the “granite capital of the world,” is the Hope Cemetery.  It has to be one of the most remarkable for there are many finely sculptured memorials, a testimony to the areas skilled stone cutters and artisans.

Here are a few photos I snapped while we vacationed in the area a few years ago.

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The park setting of Green Mount Cemetery in Montpelier.
In Barre's Hope Cemetery -- Eli Corti. Elia Corti. He was a gifted Italian carver. This life size memorial was carefully carved by his brother William Corti and his brother-in-law John Comi. At the age of thirty-four years he was shot in the Socialist building, following an argument between the socialists and anarchists.
In Barre’s Hope Cemetery the lie size memorial for Eli Corti. He was a gifted Italian carver. At the age of thirty-four years he was shot in the Socialist building, following an argument between the socialists and anarchists.
In Hope Cemetery, Barre, VT. The memorial says Donati. The symbolism is interesting here. The man is smoking a cigarette and in the fashion of something like a pipe dream a woman's hear is positioned in the smoke.
In Hope Cemetery, Barre, VT. The memorial says Donati. The symbolism is interesting here. The man is smoking a cigarette and in the fashion of something like a pipe dream a woman’s head appears in the smoke.
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In Montpelier’s Green Mount Cemetery. — a monument for Raymond H. Quero, 1929 – 1995. It reads: “Ray the cop: in service to others: Montpelier City Patrolman, diary crème operator, 1st Vermont State House, Security Officer, 1972 – 1995:

 

 

On the Mason Dixon Line in Western MD & Central PA

While spending some time in Gettysburg over the Memorial Day Weekend, we checked out a few out-of-the-way spots along the Mason Dixon Line, searching for unique view related to the history of this old boundary.  I’m always searching for images to enhance my public and classroom lectures on the Mason Dixon Line.  Here are a few of the photos we took over the holiday in spots between Gettysburg, PA and Cumberland, MD.

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On the Mason Dixon Line outside of Gettysburg PA.
On the Mason Dixon Line in Western Maryland and Central PA.

Website for Real Time Marine Traffic on Delaware & Chesapeake Bays, and C & D Canal

While talking about the history of the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal during the Civil War at a meeting of the Fort Delaware Society last week, we discussed the website, www.marinetraffic.com.  This open source initiative provides free, real-time information about ship movements so visitors are able to view marine traffic on the Delaware and Chesapeake bays and the Canal.  It is also provides details on the vessels.  Many guests at the program were interested in this virtual information repository, so I am posting the link here.

www.marinetraffic.com shows real time maritime traffic on the Delaware & Chesapeake Bays and the C & D Canal.
www.marinetraffic.com shows real time maritime traffic on the Delaware & Chesapeake Bays and the C & D Canal.
It also provides information on the vessels.
It also provides information on the vessels.

 

Old Signs Reflect Past Times in Western Maryland

Whenever I’m on the road working in some new area, I enjoy looking for fading physical traces of the past.  This curiosity about the dynamics of place makes my road trips much longer as I pause to explore a community, seeking to get some view of a bygone time.  That was the case this week as I was out in Oakland doing a programs for the 8th graders in Garrett County Schools at an event sponsored by the Garrett Lakes Arts Festival, Mountain Maryland Gateway to the West Heritage Area and the Maryland Humanities Council.

It was a long, enjoyable day as I paused in Grantsville, Frostburg, and Cumberland, MD, as well as Greencastle, PA.  At these stops I slowly strolled down streets looking for things many people might not notice.  These traces of close at hand history that got my attention on this Friday in mid-May were fading and peeling advertising signs on exteriors walls of buildings.  Sometimes I eyed signs that were here before neon  and were painted on old brick walls. In Cumberland, which had a substantial downtown business district in the middle of the 20th century, there were a number of aging neon signs touting products or services that have disappeared.

These old advertising pieces brought to mind an earlier era in our commercial past as surviving visual relics of changing business districts.  They were also a reminder of the time when the advertising medium was far different.  Anyway it was an enjoyable day traveling through Western Maryland and I was able to snap a few interesting photos, which will eventually find some use in the classroom or public lecture.

Here are three of the pictures.

Signs for phot studio in Cumberland
Ruhl Photography studio in Cumberland, MD.
A fading neon sign in Cumberland's business district alerted shoppers to Ruhl's photography studio.
A fading neon sign in Cumberland’s business district alerted shoppers to Ruhl’s photography studio.
An old sign on the side of a building in Greencastle, PA advertises Carl's Drug Store
An old sign on the side of a commercial building in the downtown business district of Greencastle, PA advertises Carl’s Drug Store