Day 205 - Mt. Olivet Cemetery

(Click any photo to enlarge.)

Mt. Olivet in the Afternoon

If you want to know more about the history of any town, visit its cemetery.  On my walks through historic towns, I always try to walk the cemetery.  There you see graves with the names of town businesses, streets, schools, buildings, and parks.

Civil War Graves

Mt. Olivet Cemetery, which I walked on Day 2 of this yearlong project and again today, is no exception.  It is very large, with more than 34,000 graves dating from 1854.   There are eight miles of paved roads within the cemetery, making it an easy and safe place to walk. There is a lack of graveyards in downtown Frederick, despite the many historic churches, and the history of Mt. Olivet explains that due to the expansion of town in the mid 1800's, a decision was made to locate a large cemetery outside of town.  That good planning and foresight have resulted in a place that has been dubbed "The Cemetery Beautiful," and there is still room for growth at Mt. Olivet today.

Raggedy Ann

Easter for Zachary

Of course, many of you reading this know that Mt. Olivet has some very famous graves:  Frances Scott Key, Barbara Fritchie, and Thomas Johnson, the first governor of Maryland.  They all have prominent places in history, but there are many other graves there of local names that have deep roots in Frederick, too:   Delaplaine, McCutcheon, Routzhan, Baker, Stauffer, Crum, Bentz, Dorsey, Hood, Detrick, Grove, and many others I am probably not aware of or did not see.  After all, I only walked for an hour today, and that was just on the perimeter of the site.

Soldiers at Rest

Gravestones run the gamut in design.  Some graves are marked with obelisks or impressive monuments; others are faded and eroded marble; some are simple bronze plaques in the ground; some are above ground and most are below.  Time is not kind to many of the headstones; others seem that they will last forever.

This grave was directly across
the street from Grove Stadium.

I have mixed feelings about whether or not I want to be in a graveyard when I am gone.  I don't want my daughters to feel that they have to be tied to this area just so that they can visit my grave and put Easter flowers on it, as several people were doing today.  I know of people who will never move away from where they live because there would be no one to tend their loved one's grave.  I have expressed a desire for cremation, and to let my daughters decide where the ashes will end up.

On the other hand, there is something very peaceful about a graveyard with a towering tree and a beautiful setting, with each grave adding a mark along the timeline of the history of that locale.  But, as with most prime real estate, most of those plots are already taken.

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Visit my photography show, "My Maryland," at the public library in Urbana, Maryland, on the lower level of the building.  It is there until the end of April.

Hurricane Sandy Relief: Donate to the Red Cross, and I will mail you a 5 x 7 print from any of the photos I have posted on my blog OR any photo on my website.

Forward to me via email a receipt for donating to the Red Cross. Tell me whether the photo is from the blog or the website, and Include its title along with a mailing address. The name on the receipt to the Red Cross must match the name of the mailing recipient. Send the receipt and the photo request to camscamerashots@gmail.com.

Click on any photo to enlarge it.

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Visit my web site: camscamerashots.zenfolio.com
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Email:  cam.miller@comcast.net

Cam's rules for the Daily Photo Walk:

1. walk every day
2. the walk must be in addition to any other planned activity for the day
3. post a photo every day
4. use whatever camera is easy and convenient for walking comfortably; always have a backup camera at the ready in case of mishaps (I use the Nikon Coolpix P7700)
5. no weather excuses
6. walk only where it is safe to do so