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MACOMB, IL – A visitor to the Old Macomb Cemetery will find gravestones leaning against trees and mausoleums with collapsed walls.
Gil Belles said he has heard complaints about the condition of the cemetery for years. He said it deserves restoration.
He said, "This Old Macomb Cemetery up here on Wigwam Hollow Road is a gateway cemetery. It's got a lot of really old forebearers and forefathers of the community in it."
He said the restoration effort has grown out of a four-year effort by the McDonough County Historical Society to identify, locate and restore cemeteries.
Belles invited two experts from Springfield to survey the cemetery. It's near the intersection of West Adams Street and Wigwam Hollow Road.
Dawn Cobb, of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, said the cemetery can be restored.
She said, "Even though there seems to be a lot of breakage or just old age to a marker there's a lot here that can be repaired. And it can be brought back to that very peaceful feeling again."
State archeologist Hal Hassen said gravestones that can't be linked to specific graves should not be placed over any graves.
He said, "It's better to identify an area where we're confident there are not graves and we will reset them in the ground."
Belles said the two experts will return in March or April to lead two workshops on cemetery restoration. Belles hopes there will be enough volunteers in the spring to begin the restoration work.