PRAIRIE GROVE -- Settlers in the early 1800s used Prairie Grove Cemetery to bury their dead, with the first recorded burial in 1818.
The historic section of Prairie Grove Cemetery has been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program's State Review Board. The same slate of nominees for the National Register includes Prairie Grove's freestanding public telephone booth, installed around 1960.
Prairie Grove Cemetery became the main cemetery for the area and was used before the region was officially settled. The first owner of the cemetery property was the Rev. Andrew "Uncle Buck" Buchanan and his wife, Sinai. This section, called the "Original Addition," had about 2.5 acres.
The Buchanans sold their 2.5 acres in 1838 for $25 to members of Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Stipulations of the sale were that the members promised to build a church and school and use part of the land as a cemetery. This area is considered the historic section of Prairie Grove Cemetery.
Land was added to the cemetery over the years, bringing its current total to 13 acres. The cemetery is located along West Buchanan and Kate Smith streets in the historic section of downtown Prairie Grove.
The cemetery is now owned by Prairie Grove Cemetery Association, a nonprofit organization that raises money to help pay for maintenance of the property through sales of cemetery lots and donations.
Prairie Grove Cemetery has more than 3,000 burials, with 20 documented burials with unknown locations. Of the burials, 1,604 are considered historic burials.
The historic section includes 853 interments, with 745 of these considered historic burials and 106 considered non-historic burials. The oldest recorded grave is that of a 5-year-old girl, Rachel C. Marrs, who was born June 26, 1913, and died Oct. 21, 1818. Many tombstones around Marr's grave include others with the same last name.
The second oldest recorded burial is another child, Mary Ann Crawford, who was 2 years old when she died in 1824. A Tennessee resident, Mary Percilla Inman, is in the third oldest recorded grave. She became sick and died while visiting relatives in Cane Hill in 1831.
The historic section also includes graves of many early settlers of the area, such as the Rev. Andrew "Uncle Buck" Buchanan and his family, and Col. James Preston Neal, son of Sinai Buchanan and founder of Prairie Grove.
Headstones in the historic section are made from marble and granite and include floral motifs, gateways, archways, crosses, crowns and Masonic symbols. These headstones range from small, fieldstone markers with no writing to large intricately carved headstones.
Over the years, additions were made to the cemetery with the latest section added in 1985. At some point, the date is unknown, the church donated the cemetery property to Prairie Grove Cemetery Association.
Today, Prairie Grove Cemetery is in good condition with well-maintained plots and markers. It is an active cemetery with new plots being sold and used in the new additions. New burials in the historic section are limited, due to lack of space and the possibility of open spaces being occupied by unmarked historic burials.
Editor's Note: Information for this article was provided by Arkansas Historical Preservation Program.
General News on 06/17/2015