Friday, May 25, 2018

Stop at the Shelter if you visit Chariton Cemetery



Just a reminder, as the Memorial Day weekend approaches, that the Chariton Cemetery shelter house will be open and attended from 11 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Saturday through Monday, thanks to the Chariton Historic Preservation Commission and friends.

This little building, probably designed by Chariton architect William Lee Perkins, was added to the cemetery grounds in 1929 and is for the most part unchanged. Even the original furniture, donated by the Chariton Women's Club, remains in place.


We'll be serving lemonade and cookies and the front porch is great place to just sit and visit for a while. Karen Patterson, Dorothy Allen and Sue Terrell will be there from 11 a.m. until 1:30 a.m. every day and late afternoon attendants will vary. I'm scheduled to spend Sunday afternoon there.

We'll also do our best to help visitors locate graves --- but that's not always possible, especially with newer burials. If the person you're looking for was buried prior to 1981, chances are we'll be able to help.

Keep in mind, too, as you visit the cemetery that it is a National Historic District, recognized as such in its listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Among the contributing factors is the cemetery's park-like design, the assemblage of local luminaries buried there and their monuments, the shelter house, the Baby Heart immediately south of the shelter and the fieldstone gateway, added as a WPA product during 1937.


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