Spirits of Franklin walks
When: Tours at 4 and 7 p.m. Oct. 24-25; 6 and 7 p.m. Oct. 26-28.
Where: Woodhill Cemetery, Franklin. Tour begins at Fifth and River streets
Cost: $8 adults, $5 children younger than 13, or $20 for family.
Reservations: Required, call (937) 746-1914
FRANKLIN — Guided walks at Franklin’s Woodhill Cemetery will give visitors a unique look at the city’s past later this month.
The Franklin Area Historical Society has planned two walks a day Saturday, Oct. 24, through Wednesday, Oct. 28.
“We tried the walks last year, and they were very successful,” said Dan Darragh, president of the historical society. “They were our single best fundraising event so we decided to have them again this year.”
Each tour is limited to 20 people, and advance reservations are required.
Those attending will meet at the 1803 log post office at Fifth and River streets and be bused to the cemetery.
Docent-led tours of the log post office will be available free to those taking part in the cemetery tour.
There will be two different tours each day, at 4 and 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and at 6 and 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday.
The first tour will visit a number of burial sites of Franklin’s earliest citizens and the movers and shakers of the town in its early years. It will include some graves that weren’t a part of last year’s Heritage Tour.
The second tour will focus on the Catholic section of the cemetery and also visit some sites where families have used contemporary gravestones to show how the marking of graves has evolved over the years.
The last tour each evening will be a lantern tour, where each participant as well as the guides will be issued a lantern to help light the way.
“This is not ‘haunted’ walk or ‘ghost’ tour,” Darragh said. “No one is going to jump out or try to scare people. It is merely a unique way to tell the history of the town and of some of the colorful people who have lived here. Similar walks are done in many towns here and in other places around the world.”
Reservations can be made by calling (937) 746-1914.
The cost is $8 for adults, $5 for children under $13 and $20 for a family ticket.