Cemeteries are like libraries of stone––each name and date tells a story about life, and love, and loss. Here are a few prominent graveyards for your perusal this fall.
Bethany (pictured)
The cemetery known as “God’s Acre” is surrounded by a wall of dark stone—a request from the will of Bethany College founder Alexander Campbell. Check out Campbell’s elegant mausoleum, with arches that echo the college’s Old Main building.
Charleston
Sitting high on a hill, the rolling 180 acres of Spring Hill Cemetery Park is actually five different cemeteries: Catholic, Jewish, Mountain View, Confederate, and Spring Hill. Each contains its own history and distinct monuments.
Lewisburg
The Greenbrier Historical Society often hosts tours of the Old Stone Church Cemetery, established in 1797, and the Pointer Cemetery throughout the month of October. Lewisburg is also home to a Confederate Cemetery, containing the bodies of 95 unidentified soldiers who fell at the Battles of Lewisburg and Droop Mountain.
Logan County
The Hatfield Cemetery in Sarah Ann, Logan County, features graves dating back to 1898. But the real attraction is the monument for Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield, the clan’s infamous patriarch during the storied Hatfield-McCoy feud.
Wheeling
Every few years, Greenwood Cemetery offers free guided tours of the graveyard, with a special twist. Volunteers dress up in period costumes to tell the life stories of the people buried there.
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