|
Welcome
Taphophilia (dot) Com...
A repository of morbid curiosities:
Thanatology and Taphophile Issues, Cemetery,
Funeral Industry and Death Related News.
A Taphophilia Thank You...
Taphophilia (dot) Com would not be possible without the knowledge, experience and talent of DarkestWeb. From its conception and early development, DarkestWeb was faced with many challenges; from inspiring and motivating, to providing guidance and direction. The continued dedication and support has produced results greater than ever expected, and for this, I owe a huge debt of gratitude.
Announcements
Graveyards of Chicago:
The People, History, Art, and Lore of Cook County Cemeteries
By Matt Hucke And Ursula Bielski. Discover a Chicago That Exists Just Beneath the Surface - About Six Feet Under! Take a tour of Chicago's permanent residents! Please visit the Lake Claremont Press website to purchase your copy of Graveyards of Chicago today!
Green-Wood Cemetery Arcadia Publishing announces the release of Alexandra Mosca's historic account of one of New York's most famous cemeteries. Aracdia Publishing's Images of America series has an extensive catalog of many cemetery publications! Please visit Arcadia Publishing to purchase your copy of Green-Wood Cemetery and to browse other available titles!
Men of Mortuaries Calendar
To purchase your 2008 calendar, learn more about the KAMMCARES Foundation, or to be featured in the 2009 calendar, please visit Men of Mortuaries.
Epitaphs: The Magazine for Cemetery Lovers By Cemetery Lovers
For information regarding subscriptions, single issues, submission guidelines, deadlines, classifieds or advertising for future issues, please visit The Cemetery Club.
Guardians of the Soul: Angels and Innocents, Mourners and Saints, Indiana's remarkable cemetery sculpture
with photography by John Bower and foreword by Claude Cookman is now
available. Please visit
Studio Indiana for more information.
West Springfield Massachusetts: Stories Carved in Stone by Rusty Clark features information on early New England gravestone carvers with more than two hundred photos and illustrations. Please visit the Dog Pond Press website.
|
|
Cemeteries suspend plot sales |
|
|
|
|
Written by DeadGirl
|
|
Sunday, 03 October 2004 |
Johnston city staff say they need to improve records at Ridgedale and Valleyview cemeteries.
By LISA LIVERMORE
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
September 28, 2004
Families will be temporarily unable to purchase lots in Johnston city cemeteries after one person complained that someone was buried in a plot already claimed.
Johnston Public Works Director Dave Cubit said the city will stop selling lots at Ridgedale and Valleyview cemeteries while it works with consultants to better identify grave plots.
Ridgedale and Valleyview are both located on Northwest Beaver Drive, with Ridgedale on the east side of the road across from Hyperion Field Club, 7390 N.W. Beaver Drive. Valleyview is located on the west side of the road backing up to the Camp Dodge property line, Cubit said.
City staff members said they had concerns about selling plots because of inadequate records.
"The records were nonexistent," Cubit said.
In 1981, the city was given Ridgedale and Valleyview by the county board of trustees. It took over Kinsey-Lawson Cemetery in 1993.
With poor records from past managers, staff members have tried to sell lots in the active portion of the cemeteries, according to documents shared with council members.
Cubit declined to release the names of the family complaining about the cemetery mix-up.
A similar situation occurred in Urbandale, though the accusations were more severe. Last year, a Windsor Heights family said Urbandale staff allowed a burial to occur at McDivvit Grove Cemetery atop one of their relatives.
Ferne and Lloyd Michael, a retired couple from Windsor Heights, came to believe there was a double burial after visiting their family members' unmarked grave site on Memorial Day 2003, at which time they found a headstone memorializing Norma Clarke.
They later rejected an offer from the city to spend $1,500 to use a ground-penetrating radar that creates a three-dimensional map showing what may be under the ground's surface. The offer came with a requirement that the Michaels drop the issue if the probe did not come out in their favor.
Urbandale City Manager Bob Layton said the city might pay for for the study anyway, despite the Michaels' refusal to cooperate with the ultimatum.
"I don't have control over what the Michaels' family does in the future," he said. "They'll have to determine their next step."
In Johnston, city officials want to solve the mix-up by hiring a consultant to make a new 24- by 36-inch map plotting out the cemetery.
Cubit said Synder & Associates, an Ankeny firm, said it could prepare a new map of Valleyview within six weeks, if the city approves such a contract.
Cubit said he's seen six or seven deeds at Valleyview. Consultants would study and match up steel pins on the ground and determine cemetery boundaries by monuments in the corners, he said.
Some headstones are nearly 150 years old or more, Cubit said.
"They are in bad shape after years in the weather," he said.
City staff also said they plan on adjusting prices for plots at the cemeteries, which are currently four to five times below the going rate.
"Our rate was set 20 years ago, and they've never been increased," Johnston City Administrator Jim Sanders said. "Hopefully, we'll get our prices in line with the market."
Lots in Ridgedale sell for $200 apiece, and are 10 by 12 feet in size. At Valleyview, families pay $20 a foot, Cubit said.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040928/NEWS08/409280323/1001/NEWS |
|
Taphophilia?
taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)
ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"
DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries
Quote Repository
“Men fear death, as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other.” Francis Bacon
Shirtless and Sculpted
The Men of Mortuaries 2008 Calendar is now available! All sale proceeds benefit KAMMCARES, a breast cancer foundation.
|
