Scout Hike At the Old City Cememtery Lynchburg, Virginia/ St, Patty's Day 2012

We had the best day ever! Well if not the best ever, pretty dang close! It started with a morning hike with Drayke's scout group at Lynchburg's Old City Cemetery, going to Bloop to grab some frozen yogurt, getting our hair did up, family baseball game in the backyard, and then a nice family walk with Waggie tonight!

This mornings hike was absolutely interesting! There is so much history here in Lynchburg that I had just never researched since living here..Wow what a place!

We learned so much today. We learned this cemetery mostly has African American's buried there...Why is that? It was the only place that allowed "colored" to be buried. We got to see where they buried their slaves. There is a steep hill where goats graze because they cannot mow it due to sunken graves. You can see where the ground has sunk in over the years due to the fact the slaves were not buried in caskets. They were placed in shallow graves without a marker or any identifier. It is unknown how many are actually buried on the side of this hill and no way to trace who they are. This cemetery is dated back to the early 1800's. As I looked out over the graves of so many lives, I felt so sad. So sad that we once lived in such a shallow world that you were treated differently by the color of your skin.

We were also able to see where Confederate soldiers were born. Wow...It gave me chills. I thought about the very spot I was standing at the time...was it a place where a battle had once taken place or where someone lost their life to war? Wow...

Lets see, they had a general store and a doctors office that had been moved there. It was one of the first in the Campbell County/Lynchburg area so they have been reserved there...You could push a speaker on the outside of each building and it told the history behind it.

The scenery! OMG...Stunning...They had an old oak tree with a swing hanging from it with beautiful gardens in the background...

We also were able to find the oldest tombstone in the cemetery(at least the oldest legible tombstone)...

Each scout got to do a rubbing of a tombstone that consisted of a Davis family...Father, Mother, and Daughter...The daughter had passed away first in 1836 at the short age of twenty. Records show she died of the common cold.

So over all it was just a really neat experience. I am not from here and I loved learning about the town my children are growing up in. It inspired me to want to learn more and teach them more. You should always be proud of your roots.

I was able to capture some great pictures I thought I would share! Hope you enjoy!!!

Add caption