This Once Abandoned Kentucky Cemetery Has Quite The Fascinating Story
By Andrea Limke|Published February 16, 2018
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Andrea Limke
Author
A Cincinnati native who has lived in Kentucky for over 10 years, Andrea's heart belongs both in the Queen City and the Bluegrass State. After earning an education degree and working in that field for a number of years, Andrea began to pursue her passion for writing over 6 years ago. Since then she has written for a number of print and online publications, as well as published a children's book.
A cemetery is often a beautiful final resting place and many are filled with history and peaceful surroundings, appropriate for their purpose. But what happens when a cemetery is misused and then abandoned? It would seem like something like this should never happen, given the respect we wish to give those who have passed away. But unfortunately, it happens all the time and one particular cemetery in Louisville has been through it all. Eastern Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries in the city and after a sordid past, was abandoned. A non-profit has come to the rescue though, and is working hard to restore the history and burial plots of this fascinating cemetery.
It may be difficult to understand how a historic cemetery in the heart of the Highlands in Louisville could be abandoned, but that's exactly what happened to Eastern Cemetery.
The cemetery dates back to the 1840s, making it one of the oldest in Louisville. It was one of the first cemeteries to bury people of different races, ethnicities, and religious backgrounds, which makes it the final resting place for people from all walks of life. Former slaves, congressmen, ministers, musicians, Veterans, and many others have been buried on this property since the 19th century.
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Eastern Cemetery sits adjacent to Cave Hill National Cemetery, a meticulous property in comparison.
Eastern Cemetery was once a beautiful property, with many statues and structures that are an incredible representation of a variety of architecture. The wake house, shown above, was designed by famed architects Clarke and Loomis and was used to house the bodies of those awaiting burial. Eastern Cemetery was also the site of the first crematorium in Kentucky. Given all of this history, how did it fall under such disrepair? That's an interesting story...
Stories of misuse of the cemetery date back to the mid-1800s and the evidence does not stop there.
Investigations have shown that Eastern Cemetery was reusing their grave sites, burying more than one person in one plot. Maps didn't line up and records showed that land was sold to multiple families for burial. This all came to a head in the late 1980's when a worker admitted to the mistreatment of the graves. Since then, state investigators now estimate that 100,000 people were buried in 30,000 graves.
Mother Nature did her damage to the headstones and the grass grew to an uncontrollable level, hiding many of the grave sites. The cemetery was the source of many ghost stories and was used for parties and vandalism. It seemed this historic Kentucky property was lost for good.
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But in early 2013, change began to take place. A diverse group of people gathered for Eastern Cemetery Clean Up Day and this final resting place began to see the light again.
Family members of those buried here, historians, locals, and those just hoping to do something good have all pitched in to tackle the huge undertaking of restoring and maintaining Eastern Cemetery. Efforts have been made to learn how to properly care for damaged headstones and loved ones are finally feeling some peace.
Friends of Eastern Cemetery became an official 501(c)(3) non-profit group in 2014 and continues to work hard to restore a piece of Kentucky's history.
The group has come together to take back what time and Mother Nature have claimed and to restore peace and respect to Eastern Cemetery. While there's still work to do, it is now a proper place where people can pay their respects. If you live in the area and would like to help out, they are always looking for volunteers and frequently host fundraising events in order to keep Eastern Cemetery from becoming a forgotten land yet again.
Thankfully, the organization Friends of Eastern Cemetery is passionate about restoring this piece of Kentucky history and finally giving this final resting place the respect it deserves. Have you heard the story of Eastern Cemetery? Do you know of other abandoned cemeteries in Kentucky with fascinating tales? Let us know in the comments!
For more information on everything this organization is doing to help restore Eastern Cemetery, visit their website here.
And for more haunting tales of Kentucky’s cemeteries, check out our previous article here.
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