City would like to help, but says $150K in funding is an issue.
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By the numbers
1803: The year the Old Columbia Street Cemetery opened in Springfield, according to the Clark County Historical Society.
110: Estimated number of the tombstones at the cemetery, according to the Clark County Genealogical Society.
$150,000: Estimated amount of money it would take to upgrade the cemetery.
The Clark County Genealogical Society wants to upgrade the Old Columbia Street Cemetery, believed to be the oldest cemetery in Clark County, but city leaders say money is currently not available for the project.
Genealogical Society Vice President Bob Hulsizer asked city commissioners at last week’s meeting to consider spending approximately $150,000 on the 211-year-old cemetery, which is owned and maintained by the city. It’s located on West Columbia Street, between Center Avenue and Wittenberg Avenue.
“You do a good job (maintaining it), but we’d like to see it upgraded and make it the eye of the (millions) we’ve spent around it,” Hulsizer said.
City officials are willing to work on the project. However, they say funding is limited due to budget restraints.
“The city obviously isn’t in a position (to fund the project), but we can certainly work with people if there are people who are willing to work on it,” said Mayor Warren Copeland.
A meeting was held between the city and other downtown organizations a few years ago about possibly renovating the cemetery, but it never came to fruition, Copeland said.
“I think it’s something that’s well worth doing, but the problem we’re up against is that we don’t have a lot of funding to work with,” Copeland said.
Approximately $300 million has been spent redeveloping the area around the cemetery, including the $275 million Springfield Regional Medical Center, the $15 million Ohio Valley Surgical Hospital and the $10 million Springfield Regional Cancer Center, among others.
“It’s the oldest thing we have in Clark County,” Hulsizer said. “It’s always seemed like there was something a little more important in the way of funding. I really would like to see you get behind it.”
The cemetery is mowed approximately 30 times per year, said Chris Moore, the city’s service director. It spends about $3,500 per year on the maintenance, which includes weed management and picking up trash, Moore said.
The Genealogical Society would like to hire a consulting company to locate all the graves at the cemetery and refurbish the tombstones, some of which date back to 1817. The Genealogical Society believes there are at least 150 to 200 graves, but only about 110 of the grave stones remain.
The group would also like to erect an iron fence or stonewall around the facility.
“When we lose our history, we lose everything,” Hulsizer said.
A study was performed by the Clark County Historical Society in 1925 on the cemetery and another was completed in the 1980s, Hulsizer said. The cemetery was laid out by James Demint in 1803, according to the Clark County Historical Society.
“This is the last piece of early history that’s left in Clark County,” Hulsizer said.
While walking around the cemetery a few months ago, Hulsizer found the card of New Carlisle city council member Bill McIntire, who has a relative buried at the cemetery.
McIntire said William McIntire, believed to be one of his great grandfathers, came to the United States from Scotland in 1775 and joined the Colonists. He fought in Col. Irwin’s 17th Pennsylvania Regiment, according to his tombstone. After the war, he got a plot of land in Clark County and “we’re still here to this day,” Bill McIntire said. He leaves a flag there every year for Memorial Day.
With numerous Revolutionary War veterans buried at the cemetery, it’s a significant piece of history he would love to see upgraded.
“Springfield is a very historic town, and a cemetery like that really accentuates it,” McIntire said.
The cemetery could be used as a great teaching tool, he said. One of the soldiers buried at the cemetery is Elijah Beardsley, who was a private in Col. Herman Swift’s 7th Connecticut Regiment and served as one of the Indians at the Boston Tea Party.
“If you didn’t know it was there, you could drive past it 100 times and just think it’s an empty lot,” McIntire said.
The Genealogical Society is also looking to work with organizations and private citizens who may want to help raise money for the project.
“We would sure welcome that,” Hulsizer said.
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