COLONY, Ala. – Earlier this year, Colony Cemetery achieved a listing on the Alabama Historical Commission’s Historic Cemetery Register, and a group of local citizens is hoping to place a permanent historical marker at the site.
Colony Cemetery is the sixth cemetery in Cullman County listed in the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register, joining Baileyton Cemetery, Blevins Cemetery, Hartwig Family Cemetery, Holly Pond Cemetery and Watson Family Cemetery. The registry includes 910 cemeteries statewide.
“Now that we are on the register, the Colony Senior Citizens would like to spearhead this project in
helping to raise funds to place an Alabama Historic Marker on the grounds,” said project coordinator and Colony Councilwoman Ethel Alexander.
The estimated cost of the marker is approximately $2,500.
Those interested in helping can send donations to P.O. Box 119, Hanceville, AL 35077, or contact Ethel L. Alexander (205-265-9202), Barbara Marsh (205-902-6454), Donnis Leeth (205-838-1750) or Patricia Ponder (256-595-2778) for more information.
The Alabama Historical Commission, which calls cemeteries “outdoor museums that help tell the story of our ancestors,” said of the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register and its efforts to preserve burial sites:
“As Alabama’s population becomes increasingly urbanized, traditional landscapes will continue to deteriorate without a renewed public interest in the value of knowing the State’s past. The loss holds true for Alabama’s burial landscapes as well as for small towns, family farms or other historic architecture, music and traditional culture in general. There is a near total shift of all things pertaining to death and dying. The process and ceremony has become commercialized, as witnessed by the proliferation of modern cemeteries in virtually every community, regardless of its location. The historic cemeteries of Alabama face a cruel set of circumstances. At the same time that more people discover the value and significance of these cemeteries, increased development pressure and changing aesthetics threaten their survival. Cemeteries offer invaluable information concerning Alabama’s past. Different cultures and ethnic groups cope with death in a variety of ways, exemplifying their belief systems. They can tell us what types of people lived in an area, their religious affiliations, their economic standing and their views on life and death. Yet, as more people move away from family homes and committees take charge of cemeteries, many traditions and unique features face being lost.”
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