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The new marker in the Old Clarkesville Cemetery honors the unmarked graves recently discovered on the grounds. SUBMITTED
The Old Clarkesville Cemetery has a new marker that is part of a larger plan to create a more high-profile entryway.
The marker commemorates the recent finding of 140 additional unmarked graves on the grounds, noting that “their names may be lost in time, but they are never forgotten.”
Lane Gresham, chair of the Historic Clarkesville Cemetery Preservation Inc., said the board wanted the marker in place in time for Easter, as the cemetery is a stop on the cross walk being put on by Clarkesville First United Methodist Church at 10 a.m. Friday. It also will be the site of a sunrise service on Easter Sunday for the First Presbyterian Church of Clarkesville.
The marker also helps display the history of the grounds in the 200th anniversary year for Clarkesville. The cemetery was the site of the first worship space in the town, and Methodists, Espicopalians and Presbyterians were among the first to gather there between 1831 and 1882.
“It is good to see those same churches coming back to that same plot of land to worship today,” Gresham said.
The marker was paid for partially by a facade grant through Clarkesville Main Street.