There
are wine trails, bike trails, bourbon trails, food trails, art and culture
trails – but have you ever been on a Tombstone Trail?
The
nation’s only historic cemetery trail tour can be found in Noble County Indiana
along the Grand Army of the Republic Highway (U.S. 6) and State Road 9.
The trail was founded
by John Bry, executive director of the Noble County Convention and Visitors
Bureau www.visitnoblecounty.com in 2010. What began as a trail for Noble County
now includes DeKalb, Koscisuko, Whitley, and Huntington Counties as well.
Bry
wanted to create something that tied together Hoosier history and genealogy,
with area cemeteries and included profiles of the famous and infamous of Indiana’s history.
Volunteers have researched and pulled together over 80 stories including tales
about architects, a Noble prize winner, and soldiers who served in the War of
1812, Civil War, both World Wars, and Vietnam, along with accounts about a
Salvation Army donut girl, the last Miami Indian Chief, and Indiana author and naturalist
Gene Stratton-Porter.
If
you are a Tombstone Tourist, you are aware that cemeteries are rich
repositories of history, art, architecture, and stories. This Trail is a
creative way to coax others into the graveyard for a chance to explore what is
really there and admire the monuments and stories of those who have gone before.
The
Tombstone Trail offers self-guided tours of 10 cemeteries over an 85-mile radius.
Last year the group published pdfs and books on each cemetery and offered them
for sale on their website www.tombstonetrail.com.
Those wanting to take a tour should purchase a pdf or book to learn more about
the stories of a certain cemetery. Each book contains a map with the graves marked. Once
at the cemeteries, QR (quick response) codes are located at the gravesites for
more information. 
The
Tombstone Trail is beginning its fifth season late this summer with guided
tours for groups of 10 or more held during the autumn; some tours may be conducted by
candlelight! Self-guided tours may be taken year-round. Some
of the cemeteries on the guided tour trail may change each year so that each season offers
new stories and some old favorite. Proceeds from all tours and books go to
historic cemetery conservation.
Cemetery
locations include the Old Kendallville Cemetery, Lake View Cemetery, Rose Hill
Cemetery, and Oak Park Cemetery in Noble County; Syracuse Cemetery in Kosciusko
County; Blue River
Cemetery, Greenhill Cemetery and South Park Cemetery in Whitley County, and Mt.
Hope Cemetery and Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Huntington County. For more information about touring the Tombstone Trail, contact the Noble County
Visitors Bureau at (877) 202-5761 or visit them on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/TombstoneTrail.
Bry’s
idea of a Tombstone Trail is slowly spreading; there are now over 30 cemeteries
involved and the trail also includes cemeteries in Ohio, Pennsylvania and
Massachusetts.
What
a great way to introduce people to the cemetery with all its beauty and history: a chance for people to learn about some of our country’s famous,
infamous and not-so-famous “permanent” residents of those silent cities of stone.
~
Joy
