The Mount Jackson Cemetery, a 200-year-old historic site in Wayne Township, is in need of community support for its maintenance and repairs. The cemetery, which spans 15 acres, is the final resting place of many of the west side’s early residents, including veterans, Black residents, and eastern European immigrants.

History and Significance

The cemetery has been used since the early 1800s and was originally part of a 160-acre property owned by Israel Harding, one of the county’s original landowners. A church known as the Little Eagle Creek Baptist Church was built on the property, although its exact location is unknown.

Over the decades, many of the west side’s early residents were buried at Mount Jackson Cemetery, but the cemetery’s records are incomplete. A fire in the 1960s destroyed many of the township’s cemetery records, leaving only visible headstones as a primary source of information.

Maintenance and Repairs

The township is required by state law to maintain the cemetery indefinitely, but it receives no funding from the state to do so. As a result, the township has to allocate $30,000 to $35,000 from its budget each year for maintenance, including hiring a landscaping crew to trim the edges around headstones and obelisks.

However, the crew’s work is not enough to prevent the cemetery from deteriorating. Many headstones are damaged, and some have cracked in half or broken off their base. The uneven landscape also threatens to topple over some stones that weigh hundreds of pounds.

The township is seeking help from the community to improve the cemetery by installing security cameras, learning more about the cemetery’s history, and repairing or replacing headstones. Trustee Jeb Bardon hopes to get support from the community in the form of monetary donations and other help.

Original reporting: Mirror Indy — read the source article.