SIDNEY — An expansion at Graceland Cemetery is almost complete.
According to Duane Gaier, city of Sidney Parks and Recreation director, the expansion is roughly 4.5 acres and is divided into two sections and 16 lots.
“The city has owned the land for many years in anticipation of a future expansion,” said Gaier. “While this expansion will last for many years, there is still an additional four acres to develop that is currently in agricultural use. It is adjacent to and located west of the current development work.”
Graceland Cemetery is the final resting place of many Sidney and Shelby County pioneers. The cemetery covers 112 acres. The first interment was in 1867.
“There were 15,513 interments at Graceland Cemetery at the end of 2016 and there will be an additional 3,222 grave sites with the expansion,” said Gaier. “If every interment were a cremation, there would be room for up to 12,888 (four per grave). Not knowing the wishes of those that will be buried there, it is hard to estimate a total. We average around 100 interments per year at Graceland.”
Among the cemetery’s 16 sections is the Pioneer area where deteriorated early headstones have been preserved in walls on concrete. Graves from the old Presbyterian Cemetery on North Street were relocated to Graceland along with their original markers when the original Sidney High School was built.
Other noteable landmarks at the cemetery include a holding crypt that dates to 1883 and a mausoleum with with 64 crypts and 48 cremation niches.
The cemetery includes a walkway-bikeway along the old Miami and Erie Feeder Canal bed. The 200-plus trees in the cemetery are marked according to its variety on a Trail of Trees guide map for cemetery visitors to follow.
