Tombstone cleaning planned at Hopkinsville’s Pioneer Cemetery

Employees of the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County will show participants how to document and clean historic grave markers.

Community members are invited to the Tombstone Tuesday project at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 28, at Pioneer Cemetery, West 14th and Ferrell streets, where staff members from the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County will show volunteers how to scrub headstones in the city’s oldest public burial ground.

pioneer cemetery headstone
Pioneer Cemetery at West 14th and Ferrell streets is the oldest public burial ground in Hopkinsville. Graves dates to the early 1800s. (Photo by Jennifer P. Brown)

A brief training on how to document and clean historic tombstones will be offered before everyone grabs a bucket and brush and gets to work, states a press release. 

There are approximately 165 graves at Pioneer Cemetery. The earliest burials were in 1812. Town founder Bartholomew Wood donated the land for the cemetery. 

The program is free, but those planning to attend are asked to register online. All of the supplies will be provided.  

The museum will also clean tombstones on the last Tuesday of July, August and September. Call the museum at 270-887-4270 for more information. 

Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.