Talbert/Pierson Grave Shelters - Beauregard & Vernon Parish

 

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Bayou Coastal Louisiana Cemetery Project

Update on the Bayou Coastal Louisiana Cemetery Project
The Louisiana State Archives will showcase the work of the Bayou Coastal Cemeteries Project with an exhibit running through the end of March. To date, 137 cemeteries have been documented.
The Louisiana State Archives is located at 3851 Essen Lane in Baton Rouge. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
For more information about the project, contact Schexnayder at jsche15@lsu.edu, or 225-578-6448.

Sources:

• More from LSU Reveille

• LSU Media Bayou Coastal Louisiana Cemeteries Exhibit at State Archives Runs Through March 31

• Effort aims to map disappearing cemeteries March 5, 2012 - Houma Today, By Nikki Buskey Staff Writer

• Louisiana Sea Grant 

Summary from project website Accessed March 31, 2012

Objectives
Our objective is to survey and record specifics of endangered cemeteries within the Louisiana state-defined coastal zone. Through this survey, we hope to show loss of state's cultural heritage as coastal erosion and sea level rise continue to affect Louisiana's coastline.
Methodology
We will begin by accessing data/resources already in place to minimize research to be done. This can be accomplished through resources such as USGS data, state topographic maps, Google Earth, etc. Then we will visit cemetery sites to record GIS location, size, population density, proximity to Gulf and historical persons buried within. Cemeteries will be prioritized in terms of most endangered. Our initial survey work will begin in Grand Isle, Louisiana - a threatened coastal site. This visit will be used to determine time required to record site data, and to determine the number of sites to be visited within the funding time limit.
Rationale
The preliminary reason for the project is to note the heightened need of preservation. By protecting the physical setting, the cultural heritage is protected as well. It is also to show connection of the living to the dead. There is a loss of culture as people are forced to move inland - cemeteries are no longer cared for and left abandoned. The project will foster the idea that although physical structure may not be able to be permanently saved, the culture can be saved through documentation. Lastly, the survey work will be used to define magnitude of project and as a preliminary step toward a larger grant application.
Results
A GIS map is in creation for future access and use by local, parish and state entities. Two cemeteries recorded are not in the correct location on Google Maps. A list will be submitted to Google near the end of the project to ask for and highlight the need for correction.
Benefits
Significant Accomplishments
Twenty-two cemeteries were recorded between July 2011 and January 2012. Of those cemeteries, 2 are partially submerged due to erosion, and 3 flood daily with the incoming tide. Four cemeteries are in severe disrepair due to storm surge damage post Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. All cemeteries recorded have been inundated by a combination of one or more of the hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike. A working partnership has been formed with DMORT to share data from cemeteries they have mapped, and to possibly help identify individuals located in FEMA replacement caskets as the research is carried out.
CONTACT Schexnayder, J. jsche15@lsu.edu
Manhein, M.
Maurice Wolcott

Louisiana Sea Grant

Abandoned Pet Cemetery in Louisiana

Photo by @seph_lawless Updated abandoned pet cemetery photographs from Seph Lawless. The backstory on this cemetery from 2012 More photographs from Seph Lawless at this link.

Dobard Family Cemetery - Jesuit Bend Plaquemines Parish

An effort to transcribe and map Dobard Family Cemetery http://dobardcemetery.blogspot.com/ Looking for local sources to identify unknown burials.

Also noted on FAG with photographs from 2010 of signage by Kim and Virginia Vaught of Belle Chase Louisiana. La-Cemeteries.com photograph May 2014 ? by Karen Anglada. Album on Facebook by Katherine Bennett. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1609081219322426.1073741842.100006616894167&type=1 Cemetery Map http://dobardcemetery.blogspot.com/2012/11/map-of-cemetery.html

Change is inevitable. And alot has changed since 2007. Wikispaces has closed its free accounts and opted to accept only PAID accounts. The information from the Louisiana Cemetery Preservation wiki has been downloaded and it is in storage -- waiting for a fresh face! Until the website(s) can be updated and all information about the new URL is updated, you can still email me louisianacemeteries@yahoo.com or louisianagenealogyblogs@gmail.com information or post to the facebook wall -- more louisianacemeteries.angelfire.com

Bayou Manchac - Acadian cemetery Riviere Iberville lost

Volentine-Sibley Cemetery - ABANDONED NEGLECTED - East Baton Rouge Parish - Central, LA

Nick Foley authored an abandoned cemetery report from East Baton Rouge Parish where David Cain had found an private abandoned cemetery Central, LA. His article appears WAFB June 9, 2014 about an abandoned neglected historical cemetery on North Flannery Road near Sugar Land Park in the northern part of East Baton Rouge Parish. Central, LA. I do not know the cemetery name and therefore, without specific mapping information, property ownership, I cannot verify if the cemetery is listed with USGS in EBR Parish. View the video here: http://www.wafb.com/story/25725460/abandoned-and-neglected-cemeteries-generate-concern Has this cemetery been documented by the State of Louisiana abandoned / neglected cemeteries? archaeology@crt.la.gov http://www.crt.state.la.us/cultural-development/archaeology/cemeteries-burials/index It was said that the last burial was in the 1970's but there are very early 1800's headstones at this cemetery gathering from the video footage. If anything is done, headstone photographs should be taken before they are lost and destroyed. Who is the landowner? Is it possible that the landowner does not know the cemetery exists at all? Maybe someone from the City, Parish, or State archaeology department can contact the landowner, local library, historical/ genealogical society for background information on the cemetery and future plans on upkeep. It is important to get photographs of each individual headstone and make note of depressions. From the video by Byron Thomas the surnames appear: GARRISON, SIBLEY, YOUNG, LONG

Photographs of headstones, Cemetery Signage, Fencing, Maintenance, Headstone documentation, transcriptions, plot map, landowner history, genealogy are a part of local Louisiana history and are disappearing. Many thanks to Nick Foley and Mr. Cain for bringing awareness about this cemetery. You can view location and earlier photographs of a few cemetery headstones at Volentine - Sibley cemetery in East Baton Rouge Parish here .