Reclaiming and Managing Cemeteries in the Missouri Ozarks

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Ozark National Scenic Riverways preserves the natural and cultural resources found along the Current and Jacks Fork Rivers in southern Missouri. Among the most treasured of these are the numerous historic family and community cemeteries within the park’s boundaries. Many of the cemeteries, abandoned over a century ago as rural homesteads were exchanged for economic opportunities in industrial centers, are now reestablished forests. Increased storm severity, flooding, and wildfire are pre-existing threats enhanced by a changing climate. Because of the historically isolated nature of communities in the Ozarks, many of the cemeteries within the park include above-ground stylistic elements potentially endemic to the region that provide great insight into rural mortuary practices. The park recently completed a comprehensive Cemetery Management Plan with the goal of reclaiming and inventorying lost cemeteries, protecting resources from further encroachment and damage, and strengthening our relationship with local communities through documentation of these beloved sites.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow