Salt Lake City Cemetery, May 2021

 

This weekend I was near the Salt Lake City Cemetery and I have still been thinking about all of the overturned and toppled headstones.    I stopped by on Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend.  This time the front gates were open!  And,  I photographed more of the damage.

A severe and historic windstorm ripped up at least 200 trees from the cemetery grounds last September 2020 and postponed at least two funerals.  Winds reached 112 miles per hour. 

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, for the public’s safety, officials closed the cemetery for eight months following the historic windstorm last September, 2020.  The wind uprooted trees, and caused significant damage to the cemetery.  According to the newspaper article, no vaults or caskets were damaged however; 100-year-old trees tore up large pieces of ground as they toppled over pulling up headstones, asphalt, curbs, and gutters.

Salt Lake City hired an archaeologist to help document the storm’s impact on damaged historical artifacts, and the City also hired a monument company to reposition headstones that were displaced by the storm. (1-3)

This is the broken tree that stands on the hill above where I took photographs.

This is a close up of the damaged tree from the above picture. 

This bare area, right across from the broken tree on the hill.  
It looks like there was possibly a large pine tree here.  

This large headstone sat on a (1)base with a (2)bottom stone and then the (3)top tall headstone.  
The top two portions falling over sideways, narrowly missing the headstone next to it, but toppling another headstone beyond it.  Also, the headstone in front of  fell over.  The picture below is the same headstone as above from a different perspective with detailed damage.




These two headstones now lay on the ground under this big tree.




Look at this large headstone it toppled over and took the concrete base with it.

In this photograph, there are three headstones that have fallen off of their bases.  

The large gray one and the one next to it, and further back on the upper right side,

there is a thinner stone laying flat on the ground.


This headstone has been put back up and notice the bare grass where it was laying.  Although this picture does not show it as much as in person, the discoloration to the stone from the ground, is hopefully only temporary.


In all cemeteries you are able to see the difference between newer graves and older graves by the lack of flowers on Memorial Day Weekend.

Just as I was leaving, this buck wandered by.


Sources:

(1)Wahlberg, Rebekah. “Salt Lake City Cemetery reopens to the public after windstorm damage repaired”  The Salt Lake Tribune, published online (https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/05/24/salt-lake-city-cemetery/) 24 May 2021. accessed 30 May 2021. 

(2)Mejia, Garna.  “Historic Salt Lake City Cemetery one of the Areas Hit Hardest By Windstorm”  KSL published online, (https://ksltv.com/445124/historic-salt-lake-city-cemetery-one-of-hardest-hit-areas-by-wild-windstorm/) 9 September 2020.  accessed 20 May 2021.

(3) Mejia, Garna.  “Over 200 Trees, Several Headstones Damaged at Salt Lake City Cemetery.”  KSL published online (https://ksltv.com/445226/over-200-trees-several-headstones-damaged-at-salt-lake-city-cemetery/) 11 September 2020.  accessed 20 May 2021.



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