Pender County asks residents to help locate undocumented graves
Hundreds of unverified, or even forgotten, graves may be scattered across Pender County, officials believe. Now, the county is asking residents to help find them. Pender County has launched an effort to locate burial grounds that may be missing from county maps. The goal is to reduce conflict between historical perseveration and future development , as well as share that information with the public. The county already has mapped over 450 cemeteries and graveyards, but officials believe there are more to locate. The county has asked residents to share information --including locations, historical details, and photographs -- about burial grounds that may be unmapped. The campaign is already yielding results. However, accessing some of the cemeteries could provide a challenge of its own. Why locate cemeteries? Pender County has been mapping cemeteries through Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for 15 years. According to the committee overseeing the cemetery identification project, this newest effort aims to take advantage of newer technologies in mapping. The county’s maps, which will be updated with the new burial grounds once verified by the committee, are accessible online to the public. “The new reporting method is expected to reduce future conflicts with development and historical preservation,” the
