In the mid 1700’s stone quarrying in America rose to an industrial scale.
Over time with the railroads spreading across the land
and with the invention of sand blasting.
By the late 1880’s you could order an ornate monument stone
from the likes of Montgomery Ward or Sears.
Something as simple as a tablet style marker up to
the grandest of monuments.
At the same time cemeteries changed from mere
burial grounds to organized plots of real estate.
The more expensive plots are near the entrance.
That’s where the more ornate monuments will be.
Something to remember next time you visit a pioneer
or almost any cemetery because it reflects how they lived.
Walk to the back to find those who were on the lower rungs of society’s ladder.
Some cemeteries there are only signs of universal misery because
their masters were far away Captains of Industry
being buried under large stones front and center.
One sign you are in a Mormon cemetery is the names of
the children produced from their union are listed and
some of them will be interned near by with the names of their children.
Some places you can be visiting one cemetery and look across a road or field at another.
That’s because they couldn’t agree on who’s heaven they were going to.
The same lines that separated them in life,
separated them in death.
Like God cares!






Austin, NV