Precious memories needed to help preserve rich history of School Street cemetery

Washington families with connections to the School Street Cemetery and the old school are urged to bring their precious memories to help preserve the history of School Street.

Former Washington City Councilman Earline King is heading up the effort to solicit oral histories and memorabilia from families who have loved ones in the School Street Cemetery, as well as those who attended the high school next door.

Main Street coordinator Tom Harton said that they are asking families to bring their memories to the Reese Booker Center Saturday, September 22, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. He asks that individuals and families with any connection to the cemetery or the school to share whatever they have - family Bibles, snapshots, etc. to help in the research.

Harton says they won't keep anything family members bring. "We'll just make a list of the information available for later scanning or copying, but only with your permission."

Preserving the memories and history of School Street is part of the School Street Cemetery project includes the now-completed cemetery plot survey, then a condition assessment, development of a preservation plan, development of a heritage tourism plan, and development of a heritage tourism brochure.

The cemetery, which had become badly overgrown, has been the subject of an extensive clean-up over the last few months.

In recent weeks, a team from the Georgia Department of Transportation used ground-penetrating radar to locate old graves without disturbing the ground, and a dozen Boy Scouts and leaders helped clean up and fixup the cemetery as part of an Eagle Scout project led by Mason Klaus.

Sadly, vandals have already damaged a new sign put up at the cemetery.

The School Street restoration effort is part of the Historic Preservation Division (HPD) of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources' initiative to fund a statewide cemetery preservation effort, entitled "Campaign to Preserve Georgia's Historic Cemeteries."

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