The Miller Family Cemetery at Stoney Hill - Bath, Ohio

So I decided to do another Cemetery Sundays post. I didn't have much time, so I finally decided to check this little gem that is located a quick 5 minute bike ride from my house off the list.

I have been wanting to check out the Miller Family Cemetery at Stoney Hill for a LONG time. It's a small little cemetery nestled just off of one of the busiest roads in my town. In fact, if you didn't know about it, you (like the hundreds of other cars that drive by daily) would completely miss it.

It's a small cemetery comprised mostly of Hopkins and Miller family graves from the mid- to late-1800s. These families were the earliest settlers to the area in the early 1800s, and donated this land for a family cemetery. And although there aren't many graves here, the well-maintained cemetery has many old tombstones with wonderfully ornate epitaphs and designs. Perfect for my project! 

And something unique to this cemetery is that the groundskeepers took the older, broken stones and put them back together, setting them flat in concrete slabs for preservation. An interesting and unique way to save the historic old stones.

So sit back enjoy a quick trip through the Miller Family Cemetery at Stoney Hill...

Shaw Cemetery - Bath, Ohio

It's the first Sunday in October, which means it's time for another installment of Cemetery Sundays, where I grab my camera and roam local cemeteries, documenting the richly ornate tombstones and epitaphs contained within.

As I continue to shoot this series, I have really begun to focus on tombstones from the 1800s (luckily, most cemeteries in the Northeast Ohio area have stones dating back that far). Their ornate shapes coupled with the detailed, calligraphic epitaphs make for beautiful photos, something that you just can't get with the traditional marble tombstones of today. 

I look forward to doing this each season, as I have really come to appreciate the time alone, quietly walking around a cemetery free from distraction. It has become a nice weekly escape to document something that isn't normally considered beautiful by the average person. 

So let's kick off a new season of Cemetery Sundays. Enjoy!


One of the cool things about moving to a new home, especially MY new home, is that there is a new, entirely unexplored expanse of cemeteries to photograph in the immediate area. A quick Google Maps search revealed an unexpectedly large list of cemeteries very close by, and on an initial scouting run I noticed that most were very small, local plots dating back to the 1800s. Perfect targets for this series!

The first cemetery I decided to shoot was Shaw Cemetery in Bath, Ohio. I had passed by frequently since moving and had noticed many older-looking tombstones within the grounds. I got up just before dawn, grabbed my camera and went to work.

The strange thing about this cemetery is that it also has a predominant sign attached at the entrance reading "Moore's Chapel." Yet, there was no structure outside of a small maintenance shed anywhere on the grounds. I couldn't figure out what this chapel was...

Luckily, a quick online search revealed that the original land was actually two separate plots. One was a plot originally acquired from the Shaw family (their daughter was thought to be the first person interred here) in 1836, and the other was a plot in which a Methodist chapel had been built, the major benefactor of the build being Oliver Moore, giving the cemetery its alias name.

So now the dual-name conundrum has been quickly solved and the only thing left to do is sit back and enjoy (and maybe even get inspired by) Shaw Cemetery. Or Moore's Chapel Cemetery. Whichever you prefer...

The cemetery grounds, just before dawn...

Shaw Cemetery. Or Moore's Chapel. Either or.

The marker of Nathan Thorp, soldier in the Revolutionary War.

The only reason that I took the photo above was to officially claim right here and now that the next band I'm in will DEFINITELY be called "Stoton & Philena."

Be sure to stop by again next Sunday (and every Sunday in October) to explore another cemetery in the Cemetery Sunday series!

  

Ira Cemetery - Bath, Ohio

It's time for another trip through a local Northeast Ohio cemetery in this week's installment of Cemetery Sundays! This week, we head to the beautiful Cuyahoga Valley and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Nestled within the borders of the National Park is Hale Farm and Village, the functioning historical pioneer homestead of Jonathan Hale that dates back to 1810. It's a mandatory field trip destination for all school children in the area to go to and learn about farming, blacksmithing, and general living in the 1800s.

And just on the edge of the Farm property lies the Ira Cemetery, which was founded in 1863. It's a relatively small plot of land compared to some of the cemeteries that I have toured, but it still contains a large amount of wonderful tombstones from the mid to late 1800s. Among the 218 burials within the grounds lie the stones of the original Hale family and Jason Hammond, a soldier in the Revolutionary War.

So sit back on this brisk Sunday morning and enjoy a wonderful stroll through Ira Cemetery...

The other wonderful part about this cemetery is that it's surrounded by dense forest all around. Outside of the farm property, most of the park land is like this. I'm very lucky in that the park is a mere 15 minutes away!