Grave Yard Caches

[+5¢]

I was just wondering what everyone thought about caches located in cemetaries. I have done a couple and have felt that I should not be playing in a sacred place. I know if you don't feel comfortable or don't like doing a certain type of cache then don't do it. I just wonder if it is proper for us to play when others go there to mourn. The one cemetary cache I found I had to go back because someone was in the cemetary when I pulled up. I felt like I was disrespecting the folks in the cemetary by being there. Just wondered everyones thoughts.

[+Team Perks]

I was just wondering what everyone thought about caches located in cemetaries. I have done a couple and have felt that I should not be playing in a sacred place. I know if you don't feel comfortable or don't like doing a certain type of cache then don't do it. I just wonder if it is proper for us to play when others go there to mourn. The one cemetary cache I found I had to go back because someone was in the cemetary when I pulled up. I felt like I was disrespecting the folks in the cemetary by being there. Just wondered everyones thoughts.

I've seen a few caches that were very tastefully and respectfully placed in cemeteries, and also offered an interesting historical perspective on the area. One virtual nearby my home takes you to a long-abandoned graveyard; another cache near my office points takes you to a place where a number of noteworthy celebrities are entombed. Many cemeteries double as parks, too.

 

That said, I feel it is imperative that the cache owner be respectful of the location and of course to obtain the proper permissions to place a cache--especially for an active cemetery.

[+bons]

I've been going to graveyards for gravestone rubbings, photographs, story ideas, ambiance, and things that shouldn't be mentioned in a family forum long before I heard of geocaching.

 

Being respectful of others nearby is important but it's no different from any other geocaching when there's muggles around. Either you do what you do without attracting attention and bothering people or you come back later.

[+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite]

love em

[+Gizmo & Brazin]

Thumbs-up for our votes!

[+Torry]

I've got one out there that is on the edge of an old graveyard In New Castle, Indiana that is fairly popular. It's on the edge of the actual cemetary in some trees.

 

I don't like finding a cache amongst the stones themselves. I think that's disrespectful, if not to the dearly departed bu to their families that might still visit.

 

Other than that I LOVE visiting the old graveyards.

[AC Student]

The ones that I've done I thought were fine. I've enjoyed looking around a few historic old graveyards that I wouldn't otherwise have thought to visit. If there was a service in progress or mourners visiting a spot nearby I'd skip it and try again later. I'd do the same thing in a public park if there was a chance I might disturb a family picnic.

[+Doggiewoggie]

When I die, I want someone to come play around me After we visited a cemetery in Key West with the headstones "I told you I was sick" and "At least I know where he's sleeping tonight," I figured I needed something like that when I die, so people will come hang out with me and crack up

 

If you can have fun around people while they're alive, why not after they're dead? As long as you're respectful to mourners and gravestones, I can't see anything wrong with it.

Edited June 14, 2004 by prettynwitty

[+Pobre Rico]

When I die, I want someone to come play around me    After we visited a cemetery in Key West with the headstones "I told you I was sick" and "At least I know where he's sleeping tonight," I figured I needed something like that when I die, so people will come hang out with me and crack up

I'm kind of a smart aleck so I don't want folks being too serious when they come to my final resting place. I kinda like WC Fields headstone that reads something like "It's Better Than Being in Philadelphia"

 

But, on the serious side, I'd rather have caches hidden near cemeteries and not in them. That eliminates the possible danger of offending people and still brings some of these great old cemeteries to the attention of cachers.

 

Edited to change "smart a**" to "smart aleck" Oops!

Edited June 14, 2004 by Pobre Rico

[+O Crew]

I did two cemetary caches this weekend. One right in the cemetary and one nearby. I have a number of old pioneer cemetaries close by. I enjoy looking at the old headstones and learning of the area history just as much as finding the cache. The one in the cemetary was off to the corner and very respectful. Just be mindful of your surroundings and respect the dead by helping preserve the history.

[+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite]

Yep the residents appreciate the company

[+Sparky-Watts]

I've enjoyed the few I've done. The first one took me to a cemetary way out in the country that hadn't been used since the early 30's.....very interesting to see all the gravestones. The second was similar, only still active, but with lots of interesting stones. Another was in the middle of Wichita that had graves of many, many civil war vets (when I say in the middle, I need to clarify that it was a virtual) and other famous people from the area. The two traditionals were actually hidden on the edge of the cemetaries in a tree row. I agree, it's not at all disrespectful, depending on how you go about finding them. I always treat graveyards with the utmost respect when I visit (which is frequently), and if there are people there when I'm caching, I just come back another time.

[+Sparky-Watts]

Here is one reason I enjoy going to cemetaries:

 

 

I'm still working on making this part of a multi (I'd make it a virt, but I hate virts and don't want to have to start a thread bashing the approvers for not approving it).

[4Mergansers]

I think you have to be considerate when placing/finding a graveyard cache. Use some common sense. I would come back later if there was a funeral service, or people who were obviously in mourning.

 

That said, I think most everyone is aware that people come to a graveyard for a variety of reasons -- research, interest, etc. (And apparently that's a big "etc."!)

 

We have done one cemtery cache, and the questions from our kids were pretty intense. Everything was fine and dandy, until we came to one gravesite with teddy bears and toys on it. My kids, 6 and 2 at the time, thought death was only for old people. But this lead to some good discussion.

 

Using the gravestones for clues, etc. is okay, IMHO, but I would definitley not be placing the cache on/close to a gravesite.

 

BTW, On a different thread, someone suggested that they'd like their grave's coordinates listed on their tombstone.

[+Prime Suspect]

I kinda like WC Fields headstone that reads something like "It's Better Than Being in Philadelphia"

Actually, it reads nothing like that. The "I'd rather be in Philadelphia" story got started a quarter century before he died. It was in a humorous article about potential epitaphs of current celebrities. In fact, on his gravestone is simply "W. C. Fields 1880 - 1946".

[+Wacka]

I've done 3 cemetery caches. One, in my town gets you to see the pioneer cemetery where survivors of the Donner party are buried. Another takes you to well known peoples' graves and interesting headstones. All are tastefully done and do not require searching on graves for the final cache.

[+joefrog]

One, in my town gets you to see the pioneer cemetery where survivors of the Donner party are buried.

 

They buried survivors? Remind me not to visit YOUR town!

 

Personally, I think hiding them around a graveyard is fine. If the residents of the graveyard COULD up and play, I'm betting they would (not that I'd hang around if they did, mind you) and therefore wouldn't mind the visit and company.

 

That is, if you think of sites like that...

[+Genoist]

If it is ok with the owners of the cemetery, i see no problem. I mean, the people buried there are are dead, so they can't care.

[+Milbank]

Sparky-Watts,

I'm with you.

Cool Photo.

 

I have gone to grave yard caches and placed one.

[+rusty_tlc]

Two site down from my step Dad is a head stone that says simply "Thanks for stopping by."

As long as you respect the visitors the resident shouldn't mind.

[+Amazon Annie]

A puzzle cache just NW of here:

The Talented Mr. Bean

has to be one of my all time favourite caches. There's more there than meets the eye too, according to the cache owner.

[+shawhh]

absolutely love them. the history, the thoughts provoked by the inscriptions, trying to imagine the lives of those who are interred. love them. -harry

[+Robespierre]

Love your sensitivity. Obviously you need to be considerate of others. But don't be over-sensitive. I'm a Pastor, and if you want the FULL BIBLE MESSAGE you can email me. Here's the short version: not all "scruples" are correct...some people need more, and sometimes we need to ease up a bit. If you don't see someone in the cemetary walking around, then there's noone there to BE offended. There're no ghosts. Dead people do NOT haunt cemetaries. Only the living need concern you. I LIKE cemetaries.

[+Hydnckr]

I own 3 cemetery caches, each of them multis.

One starts at a baseball HOF player's grave marker for which I loaded the cache page with info and website links about him. Another starts at a Medal of Honor recipients grave marker where again I loaded the cache page with info. The third uses a memorial marker for war veterans as the first stage. All 3 have been received well by area cachers with many thanking me for bringing them some history at the same time.

HOF player The Duke of Tralee

Medal of Honor Gumption Stumption

[+ironman114]

One of my favorite caches is one a fellow cacher did at a gravesite of his ancestors from the 1800's. There were only 5 graves and it was in the woods on a hillside above the old long abandoned homestead. It took him a few years of research and searching to find it and then he and some relatives cleared the brush and downed trees from around the area.It was 20 yearsafter thet that he shared his "special spot" with us his geocaching friends.

 

He had reservations about telling others of this spot but felt geocachers would be respectfull and so shared it with us. I am gratefull.

[+JackCacheNC]

I have used graveyards for clues for a multi, and I have used an old family plot in the woods as a virtual. I do not feel comfortable searching for a cache in a graveyard. I have found a cache in a grave yard before, but to me it just did not seem proper. They are places to visit with respect, not root around in looking for a cache container.

Edited June 16, 2004 by jackcacheNC

[+joefrog]

I own 3 cemetery caches, each of them multis.

One starts at a baseball HOF player's grave marker for which I loaded the cache page with info and website links about him. Another starts at a Medal of Honor recipients grave marker where again I loaded the cache page with info. The third uses a memorial marker for war veterans as the first stage. All 3 have been received well by area cachers with many thanking me for bringing them some history at the same time.

HOF player The Duke of Tralee

Medal of Honor Gumption Stumption

Those are cool! I have one here in B'ham called "Path of the Bear" where one of the stages takes you to Bear Bryant's gravesite. I've had lots of good comments on it (when I finally worked out the errors in the puzzle, LOL).

 

Roll Tide!

[wUnUt]

Fun stuff

[+Combers]

I created a cache (Kooky Komber Kash Stash) near my house at the end of a hiking trail, just where it opened up into a large, grassy clearing. It wasn't until I noticed people walking across the grass in the distance carrying flowers that I realized it was in fact at the edge of a memorial park.

 

[Obvious Sock Puppet]

How about night caches at cemeteries? That seems to be a popular idea. What are your thoughts?

[+CurmudgeonlyGal]

There are a number of cemetery caches around these parts (five just in my very small neck of the woods) and they are generally very tastefully done.

 

We don't have any that will have you searching the folds of the Virgin Mary's dress for a film cannister, though there is one where you have to filter through all the plant goo in the holder above the headstone for a film cannister which I didn't quite like. However, most of those that we've been to just require dates or names off of headstones.

 

What does that hurt?

 

We did do a cache recently that was in a graveyard (very old, and no longer in use) where the cache was a fake headstone.

 

One of my own caches is on the fringe of a primitive cemetery about 1.5 miles out a non-driveable dirt road. We love to visit. It's on a hill overlooking a river and surrounded by a gorgeous stand of trees. The kids gather up wildflowers to place on the headstones of the young children buried there (unfortunately, many of them are children) and oft times they also use the wire brush left there by some visitor past to clean up the headstones.

 

I have long been fascinated with cemeteries and find having caches requiring a visit to one or few to be a peaceful thing... a good opportunity to talk about being respectful in these areas with my kids... they like them because we get to read the headstones and see how old people were when they died... and the headstones themselves can be very interesting.

 

If the caches is placed in good taste and we are respectful who does it hurt?

 

 

-=-

michelle

[+joefrog]

How about night caches at cemeteries? That seems to be a popular idea. What are your thoughts?

There's one of those around here, too -- inspired by Criminal:

 

The Cemetery Mountain Project -- GCHPDJ

[+GentleWhisper]

There's a night cache around here too.

 

A Walk in the Park - NC

 

People seem to think it's great. I haven't gotten it yet. I'm a little nervous about going in there while it's dark since there is a sign that says those entering after dark will be prosecuted. Lots of cachers have been visited by the cops while searching for this one... but most speak highly of it.