August 25, 2023 |
Photo – Marker for site recently identified as Fifel 1905 – by Matt Copeland Bigfoot99
The Elk Mountain cemetery remapping project is nearly complete. Work remains to be done, says cemetery board chairman.
In March, the Elk Mountain cemetery board hired Dave Hammond, of Hammond Land Survey in Laramie, to perform a comprehensive study of the existing graves in the town’s cemetery. Hammond also plotted out additional burial spaces.
Cemetery board chairman Brett Larson said Hammond has nearly finished mapping the existing grave sites.
Larson said the cemetery board wanted to ensure the county was aware of the remapping project. Larson said Hammond will present the completed cemetery map to the county commissioners for approval.
Larson said Hammond’s new cemetery map should be finished within the next couple of weeks.
The cemetery board chairman said Hammond has added approximately 140 new plots in total for traditional and cremation burials.
Larson said tomorrow Hammond will begin laying out guide markers for the new plots. Additional roads will be needed to get to the new burial plots. Larson said Hammond will map the new roads as well.
The cemetery’s existing roads need repairs. Larson said the cemetery board met with Hanna resident Keith Sanders. Larson said Sanders has extensive road construction experience. The cemetery board chairman said Sanders recommended focusing on building the necessary new roads and addressing repair next year.
Larson said the new roads will require nearly 40 dump truck loads of gravel to construct. The cemetery board chairman said the county is allowing the town to take the stone from a nearby pit, free of charge. Larson said the cemetery board must find a way to transport the rocks to the graveyard because Sanders isn’t able to complete the job on his own.
The Elk Mountain cemetery contains a few unmarked graves that are not listed on any existing maps. Unfortunately, Larson said Hammond was unable to uncover any additional information about the people interred there. Larson said he had made a discovery of his own. While mowing the cemetery, Larson said he found the identity of a person buried beneath a mysterious unlabeled stone marker. The small orange rock marks the location of two-year-old Layla Fifel, who died in 1905.
Larson said the board voted to increase the price of being interred in the Elk Mountain cemetery. The price has remained unchanged, at $75 a plot, for decades. Starting on January 1st, 2024, standard burial plots will cost $300. Smaller plots for cremated remains will be $100.
Larson said the price increase still leaves plots in Elk Mountain less expensive than most places. The one-time fee goes toward maintenance at the cemetery.
Larson thanked the town for their help and his fellow board members for donating their time to the project.
With the remapping project nearly completed, the cemetery board has a clear idea of what still needs to be done. The additional 140 plots will ensure Elk Mountain has enough burial sites for the foreseeable future.
