Cemetery Restoration

The Marion County Historical Commission is undertaking a cemetery restoration project, and we're starting with the first rule of cemetery restoration: "Do no harm."

All restoration/preservation products that are used have been approved by the National Park Service for use on national cemeteries. All parties involved have completed video instruction to prepare them for the process.

Our guide book for cemetery restoration is A Graveyard Preservation Primer (American Association for State and Local History) by Lynette Strangstad. A Graveyard Preservation Primer has proven itself to be a time-tested resource for those who are seeking information regarding the protection and preservation of historic graveyards. It was first written to help stewards of early burial grounds responsibly and effectively preserve their graveyards. It is now pretty much the accepted Bible for the subject, and it is our guidebook.

Follow these links to some of our projects:

W.H. "Willie" Dennis Headstone

Cleaning Headstones

Diamond Bessie Headstone