City Hears County Cemeteries Online Database Mapping Presentation
Posted
Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
Kosciusko County Historical Society wants to make sure information on the county’s 80 cemeteries is easily accessible to the public and preserved.
That is why the historical society has been working on creating an online geographic information system database for mapping the 80 cemeteries in Kosciusko County.
Some of the examples of cemeteries that have already been mapped and are accessible online are Palestine, Stoney Point, Pleasant View and Wooden cemeteries.
There are 58 cemeteries that are currently searchable, and Oakwood Cemetery is one of 80 Kosciusko County cemeteries that is included in the project.
There have been 7,000 photos taken of the burial stones at Oakwood Cemetery, and there are 13,000 that still need to be photographed and recorded in the system.
The mapping project that is being undertaken by the Kosciusko County Historical Society began in March 2009, and the goal is to complete the mapping for Oakwood by 2013, according to Holder.
Cemeteries such as Milford, Syracuse and North Webster still need to be mapped and put into the system.
People can access burial information dating back to the 1800s to the present, Holder said. Plans are to continue to enter burial information and keep the system updated.
To access the site, users are advised to visit the county’s website at www.kcgov.com and click on Beacon, then click on cemetery search.
Bill Holder, Kosciusko County GIS director, gave a presentation on the program during Monday night’s city council meeting.
He said the online database allows users to type in a name of the deceased, as well as the birthday and death date and find out which cemetery the deceased are buried in. The site also has photos of burial stones.
Volunteers have worked to take photos of burial stones. Holder said the volunteers have taken photos of the burial stones at 67 Kosciusko County cemeteries, and of the 67 cemeteries there are 58 cemeteries that are online and searchable currently.
Oakwood Cemetery’s project is funded by the city of Warsaw.
The other cemeteries mapping projects are funded by Kosciusko County Community Foundation, Esther Pfleider Foundation, Kosciusko County Historical Society, Kosciusko REMC, Franklin and Irene Saemann Foundation and individual donations.
Donations are being accepting for the mapping for cemeteries funded by these organizations. To make a donation, call the Historical Society at 574-269-1078.
