Editor:
When I’m in the area I stop by the Mead-Peterson Cemetery just west of a vacant building to check on conditions there. The cemetery is easy to overlook since it has been placed out of sight and mind by a sight-obscuring fence. Moreover, there are no signs along the fence or along Highway 55 to identify it.
Last time I was there, I discovered several vandalized monuments as well as some graves deeply burrowed by animals. In addition some neighboring properties nearby have accumulated numerous junk vehicles on their back lots. As of two weekends ago, some of the junk was propped up on the fence that separates the property and the cemetery. Eventually, the fence will succumb to the strain of the weight and eventually it will collapse under the material if it is not moved. In addition, a large dead tree has fallen across several of the gravestones. Photography I have seen, both aerial pictures and in my own snapshots, shows the process of the cemetery’s decline over a few years time.
Sadly, many of the people whose final resting place is in this neglected cemetery are prominent early settlers of the area. A thick historical work on Price, available at the Western Mining & Railroad Museum in Helper, includes several of the people buried at the Mead-Peterson Cemetery.
At least a few people in the area evidently still visit the cemetery because some of the graves have been decorated. Those of you who haven’t visited, please do take a moment to open the gate and see what’s there.
Perhaps there is a way interested parties can all unite and develop an economical way to save this cemetery. It is, afterall, part of the heritage of Carbon County.
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