HARDISON
(Robert) CEMETERY, Rock Springs Rd., MAURY COUNTY TENNESSEE
I am relying on the red check posted at the above USGS Mapping Coordinates to be
correct. If so that is 356 yards east of Rock Springs Road. A road turns off
north of here also on Rock Springs which probably goes to a house but maybe
beyond to the cemetery (with permission) may be a way of getting by all the 5 or
so acre subdivided properties that front the road with nice homes along there.
Besides getting permission the biggest obstacle to visiting old abandoned
cemeteries is getting access. Many of the cemeteries are cutoff and behind developments
with no clear access, including chain link fencing, mean guard dogs and or
neighbors that work night shift and are rarely available to offer access.
This Road Map shows the Bend in Rock Springs
Road where the cemetery can be found. Notice this cemetery is located in higher terrain
than surrounding lands.
The red check marks the place this
cemetery can be found in the tree lined area if the coordinates are correct.
This is another Aerial Map with emphasis on possible sites to find this
cemetery and ways to get into there. The yellow lines depict 4 places I picked
that likely one could find an old abandoned and lost cemetery. (A) I show the
right arrow because the road rounds a hill and that is a highly probable place
for a cemetery. (B) The next arrow going to our left shows a spot that has some
of the features we find in old cemeteries. Partial clearing and such. (C) The
third arrow points to a cedar thicket where folks will not clear or log there
because they know it is a cemetery. In other words undisturbed ground so that
trees proliferate there. (D) The fourth arrow to the left is a thicket where no
one cleared because maybe it is a cemetery and it also has features that
indicate it is the crest of a hilltop.
These maps are usually not clear enough to see the stones in family cemeteries
of less than 20 stones and especially those that are under trees. This quickly
gets to be a science in trying to identify them from the sky. Some things to
look for is (1) if the stones are visible they usually face east unless they are
fallen and then any direction. They then will look like little north south light
lines with several of them being present. (2) They are usually in a clump of
(dark green) brush if the cemetery is completely abandoned and never gets a
cleaning. (3) Often there are big trees as the disturbed soils there grow large
trees quickly. (4) If the road into the place goes straight and then circles to
a termination that may be the access to the cemetery with a drive around and is
usually an indication of a larger cemetery. Before one just takes off looking
for all this there must be a mapping that indicates a cemetery in the area.
Obviously if the mapping coordinates are correct there is no need to speculate where
the location will be, but mapping coordinates are wrong in many
cases.
Maps from Topozone & MS Virtual Earth, modified for this site by
Wayne Austin, 16 Feb
2009.