Ferndale Cemetery, Part 1: The Grounds
Aug. 25th, 2007 07:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ashetlandponyI've been fascinated by old cemeteries since my first trip to England as a youngster in 1967. There, I was astonished to find entire churchyards of stone monuments for people who had lived and died long before the U.S.A. was even a thought. Quite awe-inspiring, really. Hardly anything gives one a perspective on life and lives passed than a reflective stroll through an old burial ground.
So in light of my longtime interest, it's rather puzzling to me that I've lived in this area 25 years and been to Ferndale dozens of times, yet I've never visited the cemetery there. Now I wish I hadn't put it off for so long.
The first thing that impressed me was the cemetery's sheer size. There are more than twice as many people interred here than there are living residents of Ferndale.
click image to enlarge
Just beyond the entrance gate on the first patch of high ground is the mausoleum for the Shaw family, who founded the town 155 years ago.
click image to enlarge
A few steps later, I suddenly felt eyes upon me, and glancing to my right, I saw a Siamese cat shading itself in the shadow of a headstone and staring a hole right through me. Was she the cemetery's guardian animal spirit? He certainly appeared right at home...
Whenever I visit a cemetery, I try to find the headstone with the earliest birth year. I was fairly certain I'd find at least one from the late 1700s, but 1805 was the oldest I found on this first visit.
I also look for Civil War headstones. I found two, and this one was the more legible.
Evidence of dyslexia in late 19th century Ferndale. ^^
An anonymous Mother and Father; their headstones almost buried themselves by the gradual mudflows of a hundred years of Humboldt rainstorms.
click image to enlarge
One thing that amazed me were the innumerable pieces of broken antique glass that were strewn almost everywhere over the grounds; likely from bottles and jars used over the years as flower containers. I love to scavenge bits of broken bottles and plates from old town dump sites, but I refused to remove any of the glass shards I saw on actual graves or plots. Finally I spied this purple shard adjacent to a footpath, and seeing it was embossed with the word "TRADE" (presumably for TRADE MARK), I knew I had acquired my treasured keepsake for the day I visited Ferndale Cemetery for the first time.
So in light of my longtime interest, it's rather puzzling to me that I've lived in this area 25 years and been to Ferndale dozens of times, yet I've never visited the cemetery there. Now I wish I hadn't put it off for so long.
The first thing that impressed me was the cemetery's sheer size. There are more than twice as many people interred here than there are living residents of Ferndale.
click image to enlarge
Just beyond the entrance gate on the first patch of high ground is the mausoleum for the Shaw family, who founded the town 155 years ago.
click image to enlarge
A few steps later, I suddenly felt eyes upon me, and glancing to my right, I saw a Siamese cat shading itself in the shadow of a headstone and staring a hole right through me. Was she the cemetery's guardian animal spirit? He certainly appeared right at home...
Whenever I visit a cemetery, I try to find the headstone with the earliest birth year. I was fairly certain I'd find at least one from the late 1700s, but 1805 was the oldest I found on this first visit.
I also look for Civil War headstones. I found two, and this one was the more legible.
Evidence of dyslexia in late 19th century Ferndale. ^^
An anonymous Mother and Father; their headstones almost buried themselves by the gradual mudflows of a hundred years of Humboldt rainstorms.
click image to enlarge
One thing that amazed me were the innumerable pieces of broken antique glass that were strewn almost everywhere over the grounds; likely from bottles and jars used over the years as flower containers. I love to scavenge bits of broken bottles and plates from old town dump sites, but I refused to remove any of the glass shards I saw on actual graves or plots. Finally I spied this purple shard adjacent to a footpath, and seeing it was embossed with the word "TRADE" (presumably for TRADE MARK), I knew I had acquired my treasured keepsake for the day I visited Ferndale Cemetery for the first time.
