2024 01 05 - IA Day trip - 3

Picture: Cemetery sign

Small cemetery, about 100 graves. Most old but a few new also. The cemetery is well cared for ... but ...

It is on the top of a hill about a quarter of a mile off the road. A farmer leaves a path at the end of his field, but if you stay in the tire tracks you would likely bottom out with anything other than a four wheel drive. I grew up on a farm so no big deal for me, my wife wasn't so sure.

We did drive in and out with no issues.

This cemetery is a good example of why I like to visit cemeteries. You can't tell on Find-a-Grave who is buried next to who. Or why someone is buried in what seems to be a random location. And not all grave markers are on Find-a-Grave.

(I would suggest not visiting this cemetery after a heavy rain)

NOT PICTURED

The 2nd cemetery we stopped at was in Story City. I had it listed as 500 graves but there are a number of cemeteries next to each other and them combined is 3,500 graves. We were not able to find the correct section and we were looking for a flat marker, so we just drove through today and will be back another day.

We did not see an office or any kind of markings at this location. We will likely need to contact them via mail.

The Gilbert Cemetery is 10 times the size of the last cemetery. Closer to 1,000 people.

And this one is right on a gravel road less than a mile out of town. Interesting in that it is in the middle of a field but has a paved side walk along side of a gravel road. (My guess is someone that had some money paid for it personally so they could do the walk from town.)

As we walked the cemetery, we notice that the cemetery does have locations marked. But those have not been entered into Find-a-Grave so they were not a help to us.

The cemetery was about the right size for walking today. Still chilly.

Picture: Office building at the Ames Cemetery. We were not able to find a sign.

This cemetery is right in town and has about 10,000 people. So here we were not going to be able to find a grave without either the office or a location.

I asked, and this office was built for the cemetery. I asked because it is made of block and the walls are 1-2 feet thick like mansions built on the 1800's.

The office person and I talked a little about cemeteries and how things have changed. In the past, families would often buy a family plot of eight graves and have at least one family marker. Others in the family might also have a marker that is six to eight feet high. Also, they asked, but didn't have an answer for ... what was the wealth ratio for grave markers then compared to now?

With a map, our one marker was easy to find. Even laying flat, it could be seen from the car.

Picture: Nevada IA cemetery sign.

Short days in the winter so it was getting near sunset when we got here. But it was only a few miles from Ames so we decided to get one more knocked off today.

Usually we only do one or two cemeteries a day and then a walk in the park. But the the winter temps and without the snow, it was nice to only spend a few minutes walking and the rest of the time warming in the car. Other than eating, I don't think the car got shut off today.

By the time we got to this cemetery, the office was closed. This was another 10,000 person cemetery so that could be a problem.

Then we noticed locations on the sections. I did not have those locations on my info but was able to pull it from Find-a-Grave. We were less than a block from the grave we were looking for. And it was an upright grave that could been seen from both sides of the section.

So success everywhere we went today. The sun is now setting.