Photographs are the only sure way to permanently save the important information that gravestones contain. Although we often think of stone as everlasting, the deterioration of many old gravestones in the county due to weathering is all too apparent. As decades pass, inscriptions are fading and stones are deteriorating or even disappearing. Tree-fall, livestock, vandalism and other sources of destruction are also threats.

A photographic record allows us to see what actually appears on the stone – inscriptions, including exact spellings, birth and death dates, and epitaphs, as well as any artistic carving. It is a record of what the grave marker looked like at a particular time – before further damage occurs or the stone disappears.

If you would like to help us document Chatham County’s gravestones, we welcome your help. Whether you photograph all of the stones in a cemetery or just your own family’s grave markers, we invite you to share your digital images with us. They will be made part of our files on the cemetery and posted on the CemeteryCensus.com website so that others have access to the genealogical information they contain.

Before you begin, please contact us at CemeterySurvey@chathamhistory.org. If you contact us before you start, we may be able to provide you with some information that could make your task easier—such as a list of the known gravestones in the cemetery. We might also have specific questions about some stones that you could help us with.

Also see our tips for photographing gravestones and cemeteries.

If you’ve already taken the photos, or have only prints to share, that’s okay, too. We’ll make those a part of our records and, as resources permit, we’ll scan them for addition to the website. We are very interested in obtaining older photos of gravestones in the county. Sometimes older photos show detail that is no longer legible on weathered markers. If you have some older photos of gravestones that you are willing to let us copy or scan, please contact us at CemeterySurvey@chathamhistory.org.

Instructions for Sending Digital Photos to CCHA

Generally, we want pictures just as they come out of the camera or phone. Please don’t reduce the resolution, rotate, crop, or adjust brightness or contrast. Send the photos to us with warts and all, and our web guru will clean them up as he posts them. If sending by email, don’t let your email program reduce the size of the picture. For sending more than a handful of photos, it is best to send them to Dropbox and send us a link. Please use a separate folder for each cemetery if you are sending photos for more than one site. Contact us and we'll work out the best way to get your photos included in the collection. 

Information to Include with Your Photos

Back to Chatham County Cemetery Survey   Go to tips for photographing gravemarkers

Questions?  Contact us at CemeterySurvey@chathamhistory.org

Enjoy the growing collection of photos on the Cemetery Census website!