Most people have never heard of Huntsville, New Jersey, a tiny farming community on the Pequest River. A number of homes date back as far as the 1700s, and traffic consists of getting stuck behind a tractor on the road. Fathers and sons treat the first day of fishing season as a high holiday. It's a town that seems to have been forgotten by time. The Huntsville Cemetery is no exception.
I first encountered this cemetery in February of 2010, and it has become one of my regular stops. It's nothing fancy - just a small plot of land surrounded by a crumbling stone fence. As spring draws to a close, this little cemetery has all but disappeared into a tangle of weeds. Obviously, there is no caretaker here. The smaller stones are being consumed by the tall grass, and many of the larger ones have fallen and are once again being swallowed into the earth. There are many deep holes where some graves have collapsed; others were created when bodies have been exhumed for burial elsewhere. At first glance, one might not even know it's there. It's sad to see.
Places like this are the reason for this blog - while I visit larger cemeteries as well, something about the smaller, forgotten ones stays with me. I try to find these places and capture them in time before they are gone. At some point in time, these were people that meant something to someone. The history of this country is relatively brief, and so many things are too soon forgotten by those who live here.
No comments:
Post a Comment