Cemeteries of Blount County, Alabama

All Rights Reserved. Copyrighted (© 2003 -2006) by Robin Sterling.


Background: Blount County is dotted with small family cemeteries tucked away in the coves, back fields, and woods of the county. Many of these are only known by the landowners or perhaps hunters who just happened up on the tombmonuments. Before the major denominations established churches in the county in antebellum times, it was common to bury loved ones somewhere on the old home place. Many times these family cemeteries grew into larger community cemeteries as churches were built nearby and the landowner set aside an acre or two for a cemetery. Other times the original landowners sold out and moved on, leaving their deceased ancestors and relations behind in the family plot. Both types of these Blount County cemeteries, the large ones as well as the small isolated ones, are enumerated here. While the work presented here represents all new surveys as of 2002 for the most part, other works were consulted in researching the sites.

The earliest and rarest inscribed tombmonuments in Blount County date from the 1820s and 1830s. The earliest tombmonument located in Blount County is the one for Rebecca Hanby (1818 - 1822) located in the Hudson Cemetery near Locust Fork. Other early Blount County settlers graves were marked by wooden markers, uninscribed rocks for headstones and footstones, or sometimes nothing at all. Some inscribed markers have disappeared to time and weather. For example, some tombmonuments for children who died around the turn of the last century were made of a particular type of cast concrete which has crumbled. Other more contemporary missing markers were metal funeral home stakes which have rusted away. In a very few cases, some markers were simply stolen or vandalized.

If you have any questions, comments, corrections, or additions, please contact me at: bobwonda@hiwaay.net
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