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cemeteries

Goldfield Pioneer Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup June 27, 2017

headstone, goldfield nevada, cemetery

After visiting Tonopah Cemetery I guess my excitement got the best of me because I fell asleep as soon as we got back into the car. I woke up a short time later to Jeff asking “wanna stop at this cemetery?” I’m not sure I’ve ever said no to that question. We pulled in and I realized it was actually a place I already had mapped out before leaving Ohio and was planning on getting us directions to.

The day had already had its fair share of awesomeness. I was super tired from being on the road all day but there was one headstone I had to hunt down here or else I wouldn’t be satisfied. This property is really unique because there are actually multiple cemeteries here, each sectioned off and with it’s own sign. I was in search of the oldest one – Goldfield Pioneer Cemetery.

According to the plaque, this cemetery was originally located within the city of Goldfield until 1908 when the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad Co. ran its main line alongside the graves in order to be as close to the business district as possible. The railroad company didn’t want the passengers stepping off the train onto the graves, and the city didn’t want graves near its largest hotel. Under the cover of darkness, a group of men known as “official ghouls” moved the remains to their current location.

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The headstone I was specifically looking for? “Unknown man died eating library paste” Find me a better headstone than that, I dare you. The moment I saw a photo of it online I knew I had to go there and see it for myself. Luckily the cemetery is located in what I’d consider a hot spot of other interesting road side attractions so its not even like we had to go out of the way to stop here. (…but even if we did – worth it!)

The story is that a homeless man was wondering the streets, looking for something to eat. In the library’s trash he found some book paste which at the time was a mixture of flour, water, and alum. Large quantities of alum are toxic when consumed, especially on an empty stomach.

I think its so interesting when a headstone states the cause of death. Tonopah Cemetery was really the only other place I’ve seen it so abundantly. Its definitely not something that’s common anymore.

headstone, unique headstone, goldfield pioneer cemetery, nevada

Goldfield Pioneer Cemetery easily ranks among one of the most interesting cemeteries I’ve ever been to, even without the library paste headstone! In retrospect, I wish I had had the energy to explore the other graveyards in the area. I’m sure there were lots of other hidden gems!
xoxo

Tonopah Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup June 6, 2017

I’ve always had this vision of what a cemetery in the desert looks like. I imagine its filled with cowboys. Its definitely dusty there. The headstones probably aren’t anything like the ones I’m used to in the northeastern side of the United States. Mountains in the background are a must. Aside from cowboys, Tonopah Cemetery hit all the marks. It was everything I had ever dreamed of. It was dusty, there were mountains, and this cemetery was like nowhere I have ever been before!

Founded in 1901, this cemetery was only active for a mere ten years before the number of dead outgrew the small plot of land. Just over 450 people are buried here, more than a few of which fell victim to the “Tonopah Plague” in 1902. It was actually just pnemonia but it claimed the lives of at least 30 people from the small town and caused a mass exodus. Another big reason people ended up here? The Belmont Mine fire which was clearly marked on many of the headstones.

Tonopah Cemetery almost feels like a fake cemetery, like something someone would set up in their yard for Halloween. So many of the headstones just listed the name and cause of death. I’ve never seen anywhere where so few had the date of birth and death. The unique choice of grave marking materials only added to the cemetery’s appeal. I counted less than five traditional granite headstones.The majority were wood. I even saw what appeared to be a table leg being used!

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Oh, I’m saving the best part for last! This cemetery? It’s right next door to a clown themed motel. Despite what a very funny polariod of me as a child at the circus would have you believe, I’m not afraid of clowns. As much as I’d love to write an article like the forty others I found while doing some post-vacation research about how this is “the creepiest place EVER” I didn’t think anything about Tonopah Cemetery or its surroundings was creepy. Unique? Absolutely! I’ll be the first to admit that its kind of funny but honestly there was nothing spooky about it.

Jeffrey isn’t a motel staying kind of guy or I gladly would have shelled out the $42.50 to spend the night, just to add it to my list of experiences. Instead, in a normal Kaylah fashion, I darted around the cemetery excitedly taking photos, trying to capture all that I was seeing, and then we moved on to the next town.
tonopah, neveda, creepy motel, cemetery clown motel, cemetery

I’ve visited a lot of cemeteries but Tonopah Cemetery easily ranks among the best. Tonopah, Nevada seemed like rad, albeit very tiny, town. If you’re out aimlessly wandering, definitely check it out.

xoxo

PS. For more of my favorite cemeteries, check out this list.

Laurel Grove Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup May 9, 2017

laurel grove cemetery, savannah, georgia, cemetery

You guys! I finally, finally, fiiiiinally have the last post from November’s trip to Savannah ready to go. I essentially shot nothing but photos of cemeteries which, tooting my own horn here, I think I’m pretty good at. I’ve blogged about it twice already how when I got home I wasn’t really happy with any of the photos. Slowly but surely, cemetery by cemetery, I’ve been editing them and falling in love. These ones from Laurel Grove Cemetery are the last of the photos. Ideally, I’d like to say I’ve saved the best for last but I think these are a happy medium, not my favorites but not the worst. I’m just happy to have saved some photos from one of my favorite places.

My first visit to Laurel Grove Cemetery was back in early 2014. I didn’t spend very much time there but I was instantly enamored. I was SO excited to get back and shoot it properly this last visit. I had two things working against me though. The super bright sunshine for one. Just like at Bonaventure, the sun and the huge trees created an absolute mess of uneven light. Secondly, I realized that my camera was malfunctioning. The shutter isn’t working properly so when it’s bright and the shutter needs to open and close super quickly… it just doesn’t. The result is a large black area in the corner of the frame. I first noticed this issue while shooting these photos so instead of worrying about getting great shots I was stressing about what in the heck was wrong with my camera. In some of the shots it’s very obvious and just looks like kooky editing but in a lot of the other shots, I feel like it kind of works. The sun and my funky shutter were my sources of frustration but with a little bit of patience in lightroom I feel fairly confident that they were salvaged.

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Even though I so clearly struggled with all the photos I got from this trip I still really do think Savannah has some of the most beautiful cemeteries. That spanish moss just gets me every time. I can’t look at these photos without feeling a little pang of homesickness. I’m sure I’m not the only one to get this feeling, the yearning for somewhere that you’ve been before. Somewhere that isn’t home but still holds a special place in your heart for one reason or another. I’m sure there is some word in another language that doesn’t translate to English that explains this feeling. Whatever it is, these photos make me feel it.
xoxo

More from November 2016’s Savannah road trip – Bonaventure Cemetery, Zion Chapel of Ease Cemetery, Old Sheldon Church Ruins + Colonial Park Cemetery.

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Zion Chapel of Ease Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup April 27, 2017

I’m throwing it way back to November’s trip down to Savannah, Georgia today. Basically, I only shot cemetery photos while we were down that way, and when I came home to edit them I hated nearly all of them, except for the ones from Colonial Park Cemetery. Still swooning over those, actually! It took a few months but I eventually started going back through them hoping to salvage some. First, my shots from Bonaventure Cemetery which were noooowhere as bad as I originally thought. Now, my photos from Zion Chapel of Ease Cemetery!

I originally spotted this cemetery on our way to get Thanksgiving Dinner. We stayed on Hilton Head Island. I don’t recall if I mentioned how much we didn’t enjoy that or not. But yeeeah, we didn’t end up having much fun there. Our experience there was just that everything cost a lot of money and/or was closed. It was Thanksgiving weekend so it’s not surprising that things were closed but it was still kind of shocking how little there was to do that appealed to us. Anyway, our holiday dinner options were $50 per plate hotel food or to hopefully stumble across something on this fancy pants island that was open. We ended up finding a tiny little diner where we were able to play mini golf next door after stuffing our faces. So clearly, it wasn’t all a bummer.

Anyway, I spotted this cemetery off the main road on our way to the diner. We made plans to wake up early the next day, and head straight there.When we arrived the next morning the lighting was beautiful but I was slightly underwhelmed with the cemetery itself. It was a lot smaller than I had anticipated. Only 46 marked graves! There just weren’t many shots to take. When I came home and sorted through the photos I liked a handful of the shots but felt like there wasn’t enough to post. Fast forward to last week, I decided to revisit the photos yet again and wouldn’t ya know it, I ended up really digging them, and finding a few more worth sharing.

zion chapel of ease cemetery, hilton head island cemetery

Built in 1846, the mausoleum is the oldest standing structure on Hilton Head Island.

hilton head island

I just can’t get enough of this combination of early morning light, Spanish moss, and beautiful old headstones. These photos make me want to go back immediately.

There is one more cemetery worth of photos left from this trip that I still don’t like. We’ll see how I feel about them in another few months! 😉
xoxo

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Greenwood Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup March 21, 2017

Throwing it back to last month’s New Orleans trip right now. Since we wouldn’t be renting a car in New Orleans we had to find some way from the airport to our hotel. Jeff, and I both own our own cars, live in a drive-able city, and generally have had no reason to ever use any sort of ride sharing app. This would be a first. After having a rough time figuring out where the heck our Uber was at the airport, we eventually hopped in a stranger’s van and rode somewhere completely foreign to us. It was actually really fun, and only mildly terrifying. Our driver was super sweet and told us a bunch of places we had to check out in the city and said she’d point out some cemeteries from the freeway that she thought we might like. She didn’t have to point them out though. I spotted them immediately, prompting this tweet.

A few days later we summoned (requested? called for? I like “summoned”) another Uber and headed back toward the cemeteries that had caught my eye on that first day. There are actually a handful of cemeteries right next to each other in this area. Any other day and I could have spent the whole day exploring but the day we chose to head out there was HOT. Jeff wasn’t feeling it but I was running on adrenaline. Anywhere else trying to do that much walking in the heat and I would have called it quits but these were places I had dreamed of visiting for years. We walked through Cypress Grove Cemetery first which, in my opinion, maybe isn’t the most exciting. After that we crossed the street to wander around Greenwood Cemetery.

Greenwood was nothing short of amazing. Its such a beautiful cemetery. Despite the heat and a run in with some fire ants (I literally ripped off my shoes and was thiiiiis close to taking off my pants), this was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Greenwood Cemetery had a lot of really interesting mausoleums. The photos above and below show two of my favorites. I’ve never seen anything like them!

After spending only a little over a half an hour here we headed back to our hotel because we both were so hot. I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to spend more time here or check out any of the other cemeteries nearby but I guess that just means I have an excuse to go back!

Until next time, NOLA!
xoxo

For more from my trip to New Orleans check out these posts; New Orleans for a week, St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 + New Orleans Pharmacy Museum.

St. Louis Cemetery No. 2

by Kaylah Stroup March 7, 2017

Lots of people have a list of places they’d like to visit, and some people (me) even have a list of cemeteries they’d like to visit in those cities. New Orleans ranked pretty high on my ‘need to visit’ list just because of their cemeteries. There wasn’t one in particular that drew me there, I just knew they had a bunch that were like none other I had been to before. Without ever having visited one in person I still ranked them high on the list of most beautiful US cemeteries.

On our first full day in the city Jeff and I walked to St. Louis Cemetery No. 2. This cemetery is located just a few blocks away from St. Louis No. 1 which is the oldest cemetery in the city (and the most famous!) As of March 2015, No. 1 is closed to the public without a tour guide due to vandalism. While a cemetery tour is right up my alley, and we ended up taking one later in the day, I really wanted to explore at least one of New Orlean’s cemeteries at my own pace.

St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 is broken up into three square blocks. Each is similar in the sense that it is laid out with a main center aisle to walk and two smaller parallel aisles. This makes it super easy to see everything and know you’re not accidentally missing a chunk of the cemetery. We started off in square 1 (here’s a map of it, look how organized it is!) and had the whole place to ourselves.

From the second I stepped inside I was in LOVE. I didn’t know where to look or what to shoot first. I found the whole experience very overwhelming, in a good way. I honestly don’t even know what else to say about it so let’s get on with the photos! Photos I’ve been dreaming about taking for yeeeears!

St. Louis Cemetery No. 2, cemetery, mausoleum

St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 was everything I had hoped and dreamed NOLA cemeteries would be! Usually when you’ve dreamed of something for so long it can never meet up to your expectations but on this rare occasion, it actually did. I cannot wait to go back.
xoxo

I shared some of my favorite spots in New Orleans here if you’re interested!

Grahamville Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup February 27, 2017

After that incredible abandoned church we found on our Valentine’s Day adventure (check it out here!) I couldn’t imagine our luck getting any better. Shortly after crossing the Pennsylvania border we hit a major wall of fog. Like barely see the car in front of you wall of fog! Jeff said something like “wouldn’t you love to shoot a cemetery in this?” To which my response was “well, I doooo have the find a grave app!” I opened it real quick and found that a little ways off from the next exit was a real gem of a cemetery. The photos showed some old headstones and I was sold!

It was about ten minutes away from the freeway which when you’ve had the worst luck ever photographing fog feels like a lifetime. I’ve told you a million times in the past how every time I go to shoot some beautiful foggy location it all burns off before I arrive. I held my breath the whole way there. We went through patches where the skies were clear, and patches where you couldn’t see a darn thing. By some stroke of luck when we pulled into the driveway it was so white you couldn’t see a single headstone.

I nearly jumped out of the car. Just kidding. I literally jumped out of the car, grabbed my camera from the back and started running around snapping photos. I was so happy to just be shooting anything in the fog but the further I got into the cemetery the older the headstones were until I found that sweet spot I’d seen on the app. It was SO EXCITING. I honestly could ramble forever about how much I love fog and cemeteries, and how the two combined is like the ultimate photographic subject for me so, here, just look at my photos from the day…

cemetery, fog, foggy, pa, grahamville cemetery,

xoxo

Bonaventure Cemetery

by Kaylah Stroup February 16, 2017

One of my all time favorite headstones. I took a photo of it back in 2014 and made sure to hunt it down again on this most recent trip.

Back in November Jeff and I took a quick weekend trip down to Savannah, Georgia. It was my second visit down there and since my first I had grown immensely in my photography. Needless to say, I was excited to shoot some photos. The number one spot I wanted to shoot was Bonaventure Cemetery. Bonaventure is one of those places that is sooo incredibly beautiful that it’s a tourist destination even for… well, normal people? Ya know, normal people who don’t specifically hunt down cemeteries in each city they visit. IT. IS. GORGEOUS.

When we arrived we were greeted by an employee at the gates. In my mind she was about to tell us we weren’t allowed to go in for whatever reason. Instead she asked if we needed any help, warned us Bonaventure wasn’t in tip top shape, and handed us a map.

A month prior to our visit, Hurricane Matthew had ripped through and caused quite a bit of damage to the cemetery. A lot of trees came down, damaging the headstones below. Bonaventure was closed for a few weeks to clean up some of the damage but opened shortly before our visit. Which I’m really happy about. I would have been SO disappointed if we went all the way down to Georgia and didn’t get to go to one of my favorite cemeteries! Large sections of the property were taped off but it didn’t really hinder our visit at all. One would think in the condition it was in that the number of visitors would be low but I don’t think I’ve ever been in a cemetery with so many other people (other than in Granary Burying Ground, of course!) For a place with over 30,000 interments it sure is lively!

I enjoyed our visit to Bonaventure enormously. Seriously every other sentence out of my mouth was “Oh my god, this is amazing!” or “Look! So cool!” Despite how much I enjoyed being there I was not happy with my photos, even as I was taking them. The warm sunshine was felt so good but I’m not huge on shooting photos in bright sunlight. That intense light paired with the enormous trees, and draping spanish moss meant there were a lot of shadows. You don’t have to know much about photography to gather that really bright patches of light and really dark areas don’t exactly make the best photos. I was bummed because I had been so excited to finally shoot the cemetery properly. For two whole years I had been dreaming of going back!

When I got home, imported my photos, and started to sort them I wasn’t surprised when they weren’t awe inspiring. I put them in a folder and moved on. Oh well, at least I got to enjoy the cemetery again! Fast forward to last week, I’m in the middle of organizing all the folders on my computer when I rediscover all my photos from Bonaventure. I found one I liked, edited it. Niiiice. Found a second, edited it. Okaaay, I can dig it. Found another, same thing. After about twenty minutes I had a whole bunch of photos that I couldn’t understand why I didn’t like them the first time around. I’m so glad I didn’t just delete them!

spanish moss, savannah cemeteries, georgia

Until next time, Bonaventure! I’ll be back in another few years to photograph you properly.
xoxo

PS. If you end up visiting Bonaventure some time soon, they have a cemetery tour app! It isn’t free but the proceeds help maintain the cemetery which is pretty rad, and after the storm they could probably use all the help they can get!

Old Sheldon Church Ruins

by Kaylah Stroup December 6, 2016

On the way home from Savannah, the week before last, Jeff and I made a pit stop in Beaufort County, South Carolina to check out some really neat looking church ruins I had found photos of online. Researching any vacation for us includes searching for abandoned spots and really neat old cemeteries in the area. This kind of touches on both! While it’s not actually abandoned by any means, it’s on the National Register of Historic Places, the ruins of this old church are way rad and totally up our alley.

The church was originally built between 1745 and 1755, at the time it was known as Prince William’s Parish Church. It was partially burned by the British during the American Revolution in 1779. The interior and roof were rebuilt in 1826. Then thirty nine years later it was set ablaze yet again, this time by the federal army. It was never repaired. Apparently what wasn’t destroyed in the fire was used to help rebuild homes in the area.

Surrounded by gorgeous old trees, draped in Spanish moss, this spot couldn’t have been more dreamy. I always enjoy checking out the ruins of old buildings but the cemetery was what really excited me about this place. The first photo in this post? Ugh! It doesn’t get any more beautiful than that in my opinion. The fall colors, the sarcophagi, and Spanish moss! Be thankful you weren’t there in person with me, I would not shut up about Spanish moss. I’m honestly surprised I’ve mentioned it so few times on the blog.

Judging by the amount of photos, reviews, and the number of people that showed up at the end of our visit this is a super popular spot. As of October 2015, they no longer allow weddings on the property but they do still have a special Easter service each year. Jeff, and I showed up shortly after sunrise on a Sunday morning, while the sun was still at that perfect spot in the sky. We were the only people there for nearly an hour. I had so much fun roaming the property. Well worth the short detour!

xoxo

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