Germanna Foundation

Preserving the historic heritage of the original settlers of the Fort Germanna Colonies in Virginia

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You are here: Home / Genealogy / Care and Feeding of Tombstones

Care and Feeding of Tombstones

September 10, 2013 By Germanna Leave a Comment

“Pip, the narrator and central character of Charles Dickens’ classic Victorian novel Great Expectations, informs us early in the story that, as he never knew his parents or saw any pictures of them, he drew his first impressions of what they must have looked like from the shapes of the lettering on their gravestones.

Certainly, as the author intended, this tells us a great deal about Pip’s fanciful imagination, but quite incidentally it also reveals a fundamental truth about the nature of grave markers.

In a very real sense, memorials erected to the dead are the material representatives of those now departed, and we, like Pip, often draw our impressions of what these persons must have been like from the things we find upon them.”

(Douglas Keister, Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography [Salt Lake City, Utah: Gibbs Smith Publishing, 2004], preface).

Tombstones, cemeteries, graveyards – they all hint at what might be on the other side of this veil of mortality.

We find burial sites to be peaceful reminders of what none of us can avoid and at the same time markers of celebration for those who went before us.

Do you know the difference between a cemetery and a graveyard?

Traditionally, any burial place associated with a church was called a graveyard. A family burial place or a public burial place such as is maintained by a town or a private company was called a cemetery.

Tips on the care and feeding of tombstones

Do not use the following on tombstones:

  • Acid
  • Bleach
  • Wire brush
  • High water pressure
  • Sand blasting
  • Chemical cleaners
  • Paint remover
  • Detergents
  • Shaving cream
  • Portland cement

The residue left by liquid agents, except for water, may cause further deterioration in the tombstone and may cause permanent discoloration if tombstone is later cleaned with another agent.

Misting or spraying water gently on tombstones is acceptable. Wetting lichen thoroughly with water and then scraping gently with a wooden tongue depressor is an effective and safe way to remove it.

Do not use the following items around tombstones:

  • Fertilizer
  • Herbicides
  • Electric weed trimmers

Use only stainless steel rods to repair a broken tombstone.

Damage to tombstones is caused by:

  • Atmospheric pollution (black crust) which affects limestone and marble
  • Acid rain which affects especially granite and quartz
  • Vandalism
  • Any of the items listed in the above “do not use” lists

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Filed Under: Genealogy

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Germanna Foundation’s Mission and Stewardship

The Germanna Foundation tells America’s story of liberty through the frontier experience of her settlers and descendants using archaeological, historical, and genealogical research and interpretation. We are stewards over these important properties:

  • Fort Germanna Visitor Center campus which includes a Museum, Genealogy Library, the Hitt Archaeology Center, and the Germanna Memorial Garden
  • Siegen Forest – 170-acre Hiking and Nature Trails along the Rapidan river
  • 1714/1717 Fort Germanna Archaeology Site
  • Virginia Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood’s home “Enchanted Castle” Archaeology Site
  • 1757 Georgian-style Salubria Manor
  • 1800 Peter Hitt Farm

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Germanna Foundation

The Germanna Foundation
MAILING: P.O. Box 279
LOCATION: 2062 Germanna Highway
Locust Grove, VA 22508-0279
Phone: 540-423-1700
Fax: 540-423-1747
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Fort Germanna Visitor Center, Museum & Library

2062 Germanna Highway (Route 3)
Locust Grove, VA 22508
(Next to the Germanna Community College campus)

Hours of Operation:
Monday-Friday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
CLOSED Saturday and Sunday

Advanced reservations are required to use the library. Research time limited to 2 hours.

Masks are required in the Visitor Center at all times. Please maintain 6 feet distance. Limit of 4 people in the library; 5 people in the museum.

Out of town visitors are urged to call us at 540-423-1700 to confirm or to make special arrangements for groups.

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Hike Siegen Forest!

Behind the Fort Germanna Visitor Center is our 170-acre Siegen Forest nature and hiking trails along the Rapidan river. Trails continue to be OPEN. When visiting the trails, please practice “Leave no Trace” ethos and maintain proper social distancing. If you enjoy the trails, consider donating to the Germanna Foundation to help support their upkeep.

 

About

The Germanna Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to exploring the Colonial Virginia frontier via the historic 1714 Fort Germanna and its German colonists and their descendants.

It conducts archaeological exploration and conservation, genealogical research and publishing, and historic preservation and interpretation.

The Foundation owns and maintains several historic sites and properties, such as Salubria Manor, that were part of or closely connected to the Germanna colonies, the town of Germanna, and the other early colonial Virginia settlements and towns in the Piedmont area of Virginia.

Copyright © 2021 The Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia Inc. (The Germanna Foundation) | Website by CJKCREATIVE.COM

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