Greene County jail partners with historical society to remember the forgotten
Samantha Karam/For the Observer-Reporter
Dilapidated wooden crosses currently mark the graves at the Poor Farm Cemetery near the county jail. The warden recently partnered with Greene County Historical Society to replace the wooden crosses with steel ones.
Samantha Karam/For the O-R
Museum volunteer George “Bly” Blystone stands in the Poor Farm Cemetery, which he estimates over 1,000 people are buried in. The cemetery only has three headstones so nearly all of those buried are unknown.
The Greene County jail recently partnered with the county’s historical society and museum to honor those buried at the Poor Farm Cemetery. The burial site shares land with the jail on a hilltop overlooking Rolling Meadows Road in Waynesburg.
A decade ago, inmates on the jail’s labor grounds crew built wooden crosses for the graves, but those have since become dilapidated.
“We had reached out to them (in April) because we had noticed the demise,” said warden John Kingston. “As a matter of concern, it was mentioned, and they took it upon themselves as a redevelopment (project).”
So, to remember the forgotten, the historical society, with the help of the Pittsburgh Area Artist-Blacksmiths Association, will weld steel crosses for the graves. The initial goal is 100 crosses, though historical society volunteer George “Bly” Blystone said he hopes to eventually make enough for every grave.
The blacksmiths will produce the crosses May 16 at the W.A. Young and Sons Foundry and Machine Shop in Rices Landing. Then inmates will place them in the cemetery before Memorial Day, Blystone said, with a tentative public unveiling May 5.
Kingston said the inmates will assist the museum in creating a visitation area for the public.
“It’s fascinating, and it’s sad. It’s on the verge of being forgotten,” said Matt Cumberledge, historical society director. “It’s the history of this building we’re preserving on that hilltop.”