I found a place in PA that I haven't seen since I was a kid. This place freaked me out as a kid. Come to think of it, this place freaks me out as an adult too! A fallen tree across the path, as if to say "Don't come any closer"
Hey Krieg, being a misplaced Pennsylvanian myself(Sunbury-North'd area)that looks vaguely familiar. What corner of the state is that in?
Somehow, this area was forgotten yet saved by time ... What do the bottom 2 lines say on the 2 close-ups of the head stones? Looks like the word 'ACED' followed by some numbers showing the number of days they lived? ... Looks like siblings buried there in that row ...
They say "Aged 5yrs, 2m, 22D" and "Aged 1Yr, 10M, 26D" They were siblings. The next to the last pic show's the Mother's stone with the two kids to the left. What you can't see, is the 3 tiny, unmarked stones to the left of the kids... which means there was 3 other children that died during childbirth. I could never find the Dad's stone, which probably meant the wife died first and the Dad re-married.
we have a few of the old forgotten cemetaries around here out in the farm fields. cool creepy places to stop for drink on the rides.
Believe me, when I was a kid, going to that cemetary freaked me out! The older kids would always drag us back there at night with flashlights and some of them would hide in the woods and jump out at us... It was like a cheesy Friday the 13th movie without the killing. It was a "right of passage" for anyone who grew up in my town... if you didn't go the Sunken Cemetary at night at some point in your childhood... you weren't a "man".
It's the living ones you have to worry about, not the deceased ones. Sad, but just think of all the stories/memories buried there, that have been forgotten, forever.
While out hunting I've seen lots of small graveyards in Oklahoma and Arkansas, usually they appear to be family specific. I've also noticed that the infant mortality rate was very high around the turn of the century in those areas. An interesting statistic; While the average life expectant age has increased approximately 10 years the life expectancy of a 50 year old has only increased about 6 months. This big difference is due to less infant and young women's deaths in childbirth not great medical procedures practiced on the elderly.... And here you thought doctors and modern medicine were going to guarantee you an extra 10 years. (You'll get 6 months and like it old man!)
I went to grade school right next to a cemetery. It made Halloween parties a just little scarier. Love the photographs.
True...it's the ones alive and kicking to keep an eye on ... the deceased ones have left our trivial and once important place ... Sad maybe, but time waits for no man .... Better ride your bike today ...
i love stuff like this, cool pics. is that a stairway or a bench to the right in the second pic? we've got some freaky old cemeteries around here too, fun to explore and get spooked even at 38 years old the dates always blow my mind... 1878, damn
UPDATE: Many of you have seen that central Pennsylvania is currently being inundated with flash flooding. This cemetery is currently underwater as I type due to the flooding. My home town (the town I rode in last weekend) is currently isolated. The only way in or out is helicopter. I got out 12 hours before the flooding began. Gives a whole new perspective on the term "sunken cemetery".
