Bartow History Museum Plans 'Cities Of The Dead' Cemetery Bus Tour

CARTERSVILLE, GA -- Pieces of Bartow County’s history can be found throughout its numerous cemeteries, and these “cities of the dead” tell us much about how people in the past formed communities, expressed their faith and confronted death.

Cemeteries have evolved over time to reflect the values and practices of each succeeding generation of Bartow County residents. From prehistoric Native American burials to modern day perpetual care memorial gardens, Bartow County’s landscape contains rich examples of how these adaptations played out locally.

The Bartow History Museum invites you to join Auburn University History Professor Dr. Keith Hebert on Saturday, Oct. 7 for a tour to several historic cemeteries throughout the county. Dr. Hebert will highlight changes in funerary customs across the ages and dig into the lives of those interred on these sacred grounds. Stories and legends of pioneers, slaves, soldiers, criminals, and more will be shared as we learn more about our final destinations (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app).

The tour will begin at 9 a.m. and return to the museum by around 4 p.m. The tour will include drive-bys or stops at Etowah Indian Mounds, Sunset Memory Gardens, Euharlee’s Presbyterian and Black Pioneer cemeteries, Kingston Cemetery, East View Cemetery, Pine Log Methodist Church Cemetery, the Corra Harris burial chapel and more.

“We hope you will find this bus tour a great way to experience history," said Trey Gaines, Bartow History Museum director. Tickets are $40 for members of the Bartow History Museum and $45 for non-members, and include charter bus transportation, tour guide, lunch, snacks, and a souvenir tour book.

You can learn more information or purchase your ticket at www.BartowHistoryMuseum.org.

Image via Bartow History Museum