The Local Beat column by Chris Graham
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The effort to preserve a cemetery that was the focus of a Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative clearing crew earlier in the week has begun.
“In an effort to clarify the nature of the site, we have marked those graves and monuments that were easily observable to our eyes without any further disruption of the vegetation or archaeological evidence,” Joey Tombs wrote in an e-mail this morning, noting work that he initiated on Wednesday at the cemetery at the intersection of Rock Mountain Lane and Point Lookout Road in Crimora.
On Sunday, an SVEC crew begin clearing efforts at the intersection that Tombs tried to put a halt to due to the presence of the cemetery at the location. An electric cooperative spokesman told me that the cemetery was not on the company’s maps, but that its presence will be noted for any future work to be done in the area.
Tombs had indicated in the course of informing the co-op and others about the goings-on that he would begin an effort to preserve the cemetery and seek any information from local residents about those who are buried there. The cemetery extends into a wooded area off Rock Mountain Lane that has apparently been forgotten by the ages.
Tombs has placed markers at gravesites in the cemetery to make them more visible to those walking or driving through the area.
If you have information about the cemetery to share, please contact Tombs at [email protected].
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