Gravestones on Ridges in need of repair

by Becca Manning
For The Post

Pieces of local history rest on the hills of The Ridges.

But after more than a century, stones marking this history are showing their age. The once-white gravestones, found in three separate cemetery plots, are gray, weathered and falling down. The stones slant downward and the engravings are fading.

The Ridges' land was transferred from the Ohio Department of Mental Health to Ohio University in a gradual exchange starting in 1988, said Sam Hibbs, spokesman for the department.

Yet the cemeteries remain the responsibility of the ODMH because former patients are buried in the cemeteries, he said.

OU assists in the mowing of the cemetery areas, and Department of Campus Safety officials periodically check the plots for signs of vandalism, such as stones that were purposefully overturned, said Gary North, OU vice president for administration.

The cemeteries contain about 400 graves, and the oldest stone dates back to 1880, said Doug McCabe, curator of manuscripts in archives and special collections at Alden Library.

ODMH officials have gained renewed interest in the decaying stones during the past two to three years, Hibbs said. Department officials have discussed how to finance repair costs.

"We are trying to find a way to budget it," he said. "We certainly want to respect the people buried there and not let the gravestones deteriorate."

Susan Culbertson, area director for Southeast Ohio for the ODMH, is working with the Southeast Ohio Mental Health Boards to bring together local volunteers to clean up The Ridges' cemeteries, Hibbs said.

Volunteers would plant flowers and trim overgrowth around the stones, he said. And they will work with a local man who knows how to straighten and fix the headstones. Hibbs could not identify the resident.

Culbertson also is looking into the cost of installing wrought-iron fencing around the cemeteries, he said. Department officials said the money could come from its capital budget, although they have no estimate.

ODMH officials are not alone in their concern to preserve the cemeteries.

The Ridges Historical Society, an OU student organization formed in October 1999, sought to document The Ridges' history to educate the community and raise interest in The Ridges, said OU senior Holly Farley, RHS vice president.

But the organization became inactive a month later because of a lack of student interest. Two of the society's officers also transferred from OU, she said.

Farley said she thinks the families of those buried have forgotten them.

"Obviously there is no respect for the dead in these graveyards because the people were forgotten by the families who had patients there," she said.

Athens Historical Society has received many calls from people asking about family members they think might be buried on The Ridges, said Jo Johnson, business manager and chairman of the AHS publication committee.

"We have been interested in getting a list of who's up there," she said.

Numbers instead of names are engraved on most of the gravestones. This was done to protect the privacy of the deceased and their families, McCabe said. Hospital records list the names of the buried and the corresponding numbers.

Some stones are larger and contain names. These newer and larger stones were set there by family members to replace numbered gravestones, McCabe said.

Readers wishing to find names of those buried in The Ridges' cemeteries can visit Microforms on the first floor of Alden Library.