Fortunately for me, I am within a mile of a gorgeous mid-century city owned cemetery! I looked it up and found all sorts of interesting things about it, but here are the basics:
"On July 19, 1944, the City Council authorized the purchase of a tract of land on Albemarle Road (now known as Central Avenue) for the purpose of establishing Evergreen Cemetery. The first burial in Evergreen was on January 25, 1947. "
There are several mausoleums; my new favorite thing.
The grounds are on the edge of quite a large nature preserve, beautiful woods with lots of game trails. Oh, the possibilities!"History and Description
Evergreen Nature Preserve derives its namesake from the adjacent Evergreen Cemetery on Central Avenue. The City of Charlotte purchased 200 acres for Evergreen Cemetery in the early 1940's as an alternative to the nearly full Elmwood Cemetery. Only 50 acres were developed for plots, and through the years, families in the surrounding neighborhoods of Sheffield Park, Eastway, and Medford Acres used the undeveloped and forested areas of the cemetery for hiking, walking, mountain biking and bird watching"
Dusti will be using these grounds for dog walking and nature enjoying!
I've driven by a thousand times, and walked around before, but I didn't know the cemetery was 50 acres! I've also admired the mausoleums for afar, but yesterday I walked up the steps and peered inside and what did my eyes spy to my surprise?Just look at this little jewel.
Looking inside through the glass doors is like peering into a sealed up, tiny world of light and shadow with the glowing stain glass rendering of St. George Slaying The Dragon. There is a small altar beneath the stain glass with a few tasteful bits of religious & personal objects. It gave me such a feeling of reverence that I suddenly felt like a self conscious intruder and wondered about "mausoleum etiquette". I am very enamored of this particular means of remembering the dearly departed, and although I will be cremated...I want to build a version of one of these for me & my family! True, we're all going for cremation and plan for our ashes to be scattered, but we're artists so I think we can get away with it.
I know I will be working this concept in to some art projects very soon...
It was just a soul-recharging jewel of a spring day. The skies were inspiring with a depth of color and intensity that was befitting of the fresh spring surroundings. Do you ever find yourself in a state of perpetual shock at the beauty that surrounds you outside? Everywhere I looked was a feast for my hungry eyes, and a balm for my city dwelling soul.
The ground, o the grounds!
The sights, all around.
I can't tell you how happy I am to have found a nature preserve and a cemetery within a mile of home. It's like I won the lottery!I'm a happy girl.
2 comments:
Oh, what a find!
I love mauseleums (sp?)---they're fascinating.
DO be careful out there alone, please. Have you a cannister of mace or something?
In Texas, they don't set aside tons of land like that. Do they eventually plan to fill it up with graves and such, or does it stay an open area?
Mausoleums, and I'm smitten! Don't worry about lil' ol' me; I have a can of mace...or something.
How do cemeteries work in TX? How else would you do it? Eventually, someday, all the plots will be all bought up and it will be full. This one is from the late 40s I believe, but it's got lots of room yet. It's a city-run cemetery and it is kind of like a park, open to the public.
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