Rainy summer and erosion take toll on cemetery at 43rd Street and Sherwood Avenue
A wetter than normal summer has a Beallwood resident concerned about a neighborhood cemetery at 43rd Street and Sherwood Avenue in Columbus.
Located between Sherwood and 17th avenues, the cemetery has some graves damaged by erosion near the right of way while some older plots show signs of sinking. The longtime resident thought the small cemetery belonged to the city but limited records show it belongs to Greater Beallwood Baptist Church less than a block away.
“We are aware that there are some issues and challenges on the erosion,” said the Rev. Adrian Chester, pastor of the church that has served the community for 143 years. “Most of the places where the erosion is taking place is on the city right of way.”
The resident said he remembers when the area was wooded before the city developed 43rd Street where the cemetery starts and runs north within the block.
Chester said the church acknowledged ownership of the land in the 1980s. It started off as a community cemetery for one of the Masonic lodges. “At some point in time, there was an exchange between the church and the Masonic lodge for the church to take over management of it,” he said. “There wasn’t extensive records of who was buried there.”
On many of the sunken graves, Chester said you can’t determine the name on the grave site to be able to find the next of kin. “We have some records but they are not as extensive as they should have been,” said the pastor with almost five years at the church. “One thing we have been trying to do is to know what’s down there and connecting the dots so we can connect families to make a decision on relocating graves to another area or doing something.”
Chester noted the area also has some exposed graves where remains were buried outside of vaults, containers made of concrete to enclose a coffin to help prevent a grave from sinking. “We are making provisions to make some improvements but that is a pretty large bill,” the pastor said. “We just want to make sure we do our due diligence.”
A wetter than normal summer added problems at the cemetery, in addition to keeping the grass cut. Near the street corner, soil has been washed away from grave sites during heavy rains. So far this year, the city has recorded 52.33 inches of rainfall, more than 5 inches over the yearly average of 46.75 with two months left in the year.
There are plans to tackle challenges in the cemetery. “We are in the process to bring it up to speed,” Chester said. “We understand it is a reflection on the church. We want to make sure we do our part.”
If you’ve seen something that needs attention, give me a call at 706-571-8576.
This story was originally published November 4, 2018 at 7:12 AM.