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Yosemite Valley Cemetery Stabilization
Yosemite National Park » Yosemite Valley Cemetery Stabilization » Document List
The Yosemite Valley Cemetery is the final resting place for many of Yosemite's stewards including Galen Clark, James Hutchings, Lucy Brown and many American Indians. The site remains our only tangible link to these iconic figures, early park staff, and their predecessors in this great landscape. After many decades of neglect, the cemetery is in a state of disrepair. Gravestones are damaged and split, metal fences are broken, and weathering and vegetation stains obscure the names and details of our past.
This project will stabilize and repair monuments and clean up the site. The existing conditions of the monuments, stone wall, wood fencing, vegetation, and other features have been surveyed documented and assessed this past winter. Volunteers this fall will remove seedlings, clean debris from graves and walls, dismantle the wood fence within the cemetery and repurpose it to better delineate walking paths and protect the landscape. The park historic preservation crew will clean gravestones, replace split wood monuments, and repair damaged metal fences following conservation best practices.
Of the 26 wood markers, up to 15 will need to be removed, repaired or replaced, and reinstalled. All will be cleaned, stained and preservative applied. The bench and 17 marble and granite monuments will have vegetation and staining cleaned from the carved faces. The Lamon monument and associated chain fence and pillars will be repaired and leveled. Two metal fences surrounding graves will be repaired.
This project will stabilize and repair monuments and clean up the site. The existing conditions of the monuments, stone wall, wood fencing, vegetation, and other features have been surveyed documented and assessed this past winter. Volunteers this fall will remove seedlings, clean debris from graves and walls, dismantle the wood fence within the cemetery and repurpose it to better delineate walking paths and protect the landscape. The park historic preservation crew will clean gravestones, replace split wood monuments, and repair damaged metal fences following conservation best practices.
Of the 26 wood markers, up to 15 will need to be removed, repaired or replaced, and reinstalled. All will be cleaned, stained and preservative applied. The bench and 17 marble and granite monuments will have vegetation and staining cleaned from the carved faces. The Lamon monument and associated chain fence and pillars will be repaired and leveled. Two metal fences surrounding graves will be repaired.