Cemetery Volunteer

Feb. 2025

Cemetery Work

We are looking for people interested in participating in maintenance of cemeteries we try to maintain in Prince William County. Most of these are cemeteries that we have done some level of restoration or extensive cleanup at and now they need to be maintained so they don’t get completely overgrown. The maintenance is all vegetation removal and landscaping work. We will not be cleaning headstones or resetting markers as part of this effort. The County government is only responsible for maintenance of cemeteries on their property. They cannot go on private property and maintain cemeteries. Additionally, there is no legal requirement for the owners of the property where a cemetery is to maintain it. This effort is strictly volunteer. No compensation will be allotted.

We have about 20 cemeteries we work on, mostly in the mid-county and eastern area. The type of work can range from picking up sticks, trimming trees or bushes, cutting vegetation, and mowing grass. This opportunity will also provide you with general information about cemeteries. There is more information to know than you would think. There are typical layouts, orientation, different types of markers, headstones, footstones, fieldstones, markers made of marble, slate, granite, natural stone…, differences in carvings, maker's marks, and much more. All of these sites have no facilities (bathrooms or running water). If needed, you will need to travel off site to use the restroom. Also, refreshments are not provided. Please bring water and snacks for yourself as needed.

Our goal with this program is to empower local volunteers to be caretakers of a cemetery near their location. The long term goal of this is we would like local residents to take on the maintenance of a cemetery of their choosing, after some time with Historic Prince William (HPW) members learning best practices of cemetery maintenance so HPW members with the proper skills can focus on technical restorations of cemeteries in need.

To apply some structure to this activity we would like to designate the second Sunday of each month as a cemetery work day where work is planned to occur at a cemetery in need of maintenance. There will be other opportunities as well, especially in the fast growing spring months. If you join us and become comfortable enough in the future, you’ll be able to do simple maintenance on your own, whenever you are motivated to do so. 

Other Ways to Volunteer

Research

If physical work isn’t suited for you there are other ways you could volunteer with us. For every cemetery we restore, we like to do a deep dive into the people we know are buried at the cemetery and try to understand their family dynamic, the timeframe they lived and worked on the land, the relationships people share in the cemetery, what they did for work, and any other interesting facts that can be discovered. Resources we use for this are the County Court Archives to research deeds (this tells us when they acquired the land, how large it was, from whom did they buy it, when it was sold and so on), census records (this can help match up family members in a cemetery who may not share the same last name), database websites like Ancestry and Find a Grave (also good for matching up family members, adding more documentation and often, learning about the people through writeups others have done). After the research has been completed a storyline can be written in paragraph format for a report. This work is very time consuming and is done over several weeks as your time and motivation allows. This work requires critical thinking when reviewing information found. Information can be interpreted differently between people. An example of the outcome of this work can be seen on the Butler Cemetery Restoration Report. 

Videographer

During our cemetery cleanups there are opportunities for short and long format videos to be produced. These could range from quick snippets of activity, new discoveries like buried headstones not previously known, and video with audio of standard practices in cemeteries. These could be shared on your social media platforms and/or sent to us to share on our Facebook page and YouTube channel. We have a couple examples of long format videos on our Youtube Channel.

High Effort Cemeteries

White Hall
This site is very manageable as long as it gets regular maintenance. Most of the work is done in areas around the cemetery, not in it. There is a lot of grass to mow, including a ditch next to Aden Road and the old church foundation to mow around.

Bradley
Needs frequent visits. Lots of sticks to pick up. Some vegetation cutting. It gets lots of leaf fall. It should not be raked in the spring, this will promote growth of new vegetation.

Florence
The trail to the cemetery is long and covered in down trees. We have a maintenance permit from VDOT to maintain the trail and cemetery. The paved path needs to be cleared or a path through the woods (4 feet wide max.) needs to be cleared.

Keys/Molar
Standard mowing and trimming at this location. Easy but grows fast. It’s a large cemetery. A riding mower would be best here.

Myers/Davis
This cemetery has a maintenance contract. Our work involves clearing overgrown areas and in the future, resetting headstones

Occoquan
This is a huge project. Clearing vegetation and English ivy. There is a section in the east that needs to be cleared.

Robertson
Standard mowing and trimming. It grows fast so a lot of visits are needed. Push mower is best here.

Cemeteries Map

If you are interested in participating in cemetery maintenance, please view the map below to find a cemetery near you or one that you are interested in working on. Each location has descriptive text describing the location and needs.

Volunteer Form

Once you have reviewed the map and found a cemetery you would like to help with, please fill out the form found at the link below. If you have a general interest with no set cemetery please complete the form as well. https://forms.gle/Re9MNQ7VmnJBxnBf7

HPW will organize the information and make an email list where communication will be sent to all interested people through a BCC email. We hope to have a small group of interested people by spring when the weather is warmer and the vegetation needs the most attention.

Thank you for following the process as we work to make this successful. If you have any questions please contact us through the form, or via our website or Facebook page.

This video shows the type of work these projects require. It's good physical work.