Many of you will remember the story of our long forgotten cemetery encircled by landfill. If not, find it here.
Well, today many of our committee went for a visit along with a couple of city officials. They helped us find our way back through the 12 foot reeds and we were able to uncover some headstones. The area is very over-grown. Very. And soggy.
The photos below are from today’s visit and of an earlier visit (when there was actually snow on the ground). The photo credit for those go to Anne Coffey who was our first scout.
The good news is that the City is very willing to help reclaim this area. Our shared goal is to make it visitable once again. It is a large endeavor we have before us. Between the landfill, soil erosion, the invasive reeds (did I mention they are 12 feet tall?), rogue trees, and general neglect, it is going to take a village – or an entire city – and time to bring this story a happy ending.
We are planning organized outing(s) this spring and summer to clean and recover any stones that have sunk or are hidden in some way. We will keep you posted and hope you will be involved.
Here is the link to Find A Grave where you can see the list of known burials in the cemetery, that is, those interred after they started issuing permits in 1902. You may also find this list at our library.
**UPDATE**
SAVE THE DATE
Bloomvale Cemetery Clean-up Event Saturday June 7th 2014 10:00am – click link to sign up-
http://midwestcemetery.weebly.com/bloomvale-cemetery.html
**However, if you have mobility issues, this is not the event for you. Once this work day is complete, subsequent work days will be available for you to be involved and see this site.
5 responses to “Bloomvale Cemetery – The Visit!”
Bill B
December 9th, 2012 at 14:35
So what’s the update on the cemetery?
chhpac
December 13th, 2012 at 05:06
Currently we are again in a holding pattern as our liaison to the city on this matter no longer works for the city and has not been replaced. I will update when I have more. Thank you for your interest.
chhpac
March 27th, 2014 at 20:33
Here is the update:
SAVE THE DATE
Bloomvale Cemetery Clean-up Event Saturday June 7th 2014 10:00am – click link to sign up-
http://midwestcemetery.weebly.com/bloomvale-cemetery.html
**However, if you have mobility issues, this is not the event for you. Once this work day is complete, subsequent work days will be available for you to be involved and see this site.
J.Cosenza
May 4th, 2014 at 14:22
I would like to see a bigger detailed map north and west and east
Having lived in Chicago Heights for 85 years
This is interesting
chhpac
May 7th, 2014 at 05:10
Check out Midwest Cemetery Preservation’s page about our clean up event on June 7th. http://midwestcemetery.weebly.com/bloomvale-cemetery.html