How the best laid plans for a community mausoleum at the Oakland Cemetery and Memorial Park in Sandusky, Ohio ended up with one built entirely different from the original drawings.

One place to look for the "real story" regarding the history of just about anything is to search historical newspapers.  Today, more than ever, it is easier to do just that because of the internet and websites like "NewspaperArchive.com" that can be accessed as a non-subscriber through some local libraries from just about anywhere. 

Thus, I researched the Sandusky Star-Journal and the Sandusky Register newspapers to learn what changes had evolved over time regarding the plans of the City of Sandusky, Ohio to construct a community mausoleum at the Oakland Cemetery around 1917 that never came to fruition until many years later.  

The accounts published down through the years reveal details of the proposals, and "false starts" that occurred before a mausoleum was built. 

In the end, though, the mausoleum design was one that in no way resembles the original drawings that the city has found worthwhile to still retain. I feel it's important that the drawings were saved so we could view them today.

Below is a sampling of some of the newspaper stories that were published from 1917 through 1979 about the proposed community mausoleum at the Oakland Cemetery (aka Oakland Cemetery and Memorial Park).:

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Below are images of the drawings for the original mausoleum, not appearing in any particular order.:

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Thanking Mr. Vern Margard who so kindly shared the two photographs shown below.: 

Below is an aerial view of the new mausoleum.

Below is a view of one area of the garden mausoleum at the Oakland Cemetery and Memorial Park.

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For further reference.:

The Oakland Cemetery on Find A Grave

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From the website of the City of Sandusky.:
"This garden-type mausoleum was constructed and dedicated in 1979. 

Its unique open-air construction and use of native sandstone and marble create a beautiful blend of contemporary function and historical quality."

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Noting that per the May 29, 1979 Sandusky Register story.:  

"There are four galleries in the mausoleum which have been named the Gallery of the Cedars, the Gallery of the Maples, The Gallery of the Elms, and the Gallery of the Oaks.  The names depict the trees located near each gallery."

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Below is a self-guided historical walking tour brochure.  

It has a helpful cemetery map pinpointing 34 landmarks to stop at during your visit. The brochure was created in partnership by the Sandusky Recreation Division and the Sandusky Library. 

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Six more historical news stories have been added to the "Ohio Cemeteries - WPA - Miscellaneous" Collection on Flickr.

 Six more news stories have been added to "Ohio Cemeteries - WPA Miscellaneous" collection on Flickr. 

A link for this collection is shown on the right sidebar of the blog. 

This collection is a "work in progress"!

Additional historical accounts will surely be discovered. 

Untold numbers of unemployed people found meaningful work by recording veteran burials and documenting them in map form, by creating individual veterans grave registration cards, and for some by conducting in-person surveys during the 1930s - the years of the Great Depression when unemployment was at an all time high. 

Reflecting on the "WPA" - Works Progress Administration program, I feel it is safe to say that it left a legacy all its own benefitting many searching for veterans burials in states like Ohio.  The six newspaper stories are shown below.  

The website NewspaperArchive was referenced for these stories.: 

OHIO CEMETERIES - WPA - MISCELLANEOUS.:

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HAMILTON COUNTY:

Cemetery Locations

Cemetery records listing burial locations of military veterans are available through the Recorder’s Office.

Veterans who were known at the time (up to 1939) were catalogued as part of a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project.

Each cemetery has three parts to its record: 

1) An introductory card stating the exact name, date of establishment and relevant veteran’s information;

2) an information card containing an alphabetical index of all veterans buried in the cemetery, the war they served in and a burial plot locator number;

and 3) a plat map indicating the location of every burial plot within the cemetery so you can determine exactly where a veteran is buried.

After the WPA project, veteran’s burial records were obtained through a variety of sources until the 1980’s when these records came to be handled by the Ohio Department of Vital Statistics. Since then, they have provided typewritten indices on a regular basis listing deceased veterans and their burial cemetery. These records can only be accessed from microfilm tapes at the Recorder’s Office and are not currently available over the Internet.

Below is the list of cemeteries that were catalogued by the WPA with their corresponding page numbers and maps. Click the link in the “Plat Image Link” column to view the plat.

Included in this listing is a special section that documents Jewish Cemeteries.

Memorial Plaque.:

There are 244 Veteran burials in Hamilton County for which the exact grave location is unknown. Located in Spring Grove Cemetery is a plaque honoring them. For the list of these veterans’ names, see Page 581-582 of the Spring Grove Cemetery plats.

Click letter to move to that part of the cemetery list.

 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Z

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UNION COUNTY:

In 1933, the American Legion adopted a National Graves Registration Plan and three years later, passed a resolution that funding and labor should be provided to carry out the project by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The purpose of the project was to identify and document the burial location of every American who served their country in the military.

In 1938, the Ohio American Legion and the Ohio Adjutant General applied and obtained approval for funding through the WPA to conduct a state-wide Veterans Graves Registration Project.

The first step in the project was to identify the location of cemeteries throughout the county.

Once a cemetery was identified and located, surveyors were sent to measure the grounds and map the cemetery.

After field crews checked and then other project employees verified a veteran’s presence in the cemetery the location of the veteran’s grave was added to the cemetery plot map.

In the spring of 1939 the project was completed and afterwards the Ohio General Assembly required the county recorders in each county to maintain and update a list “for the registration of the graves of all persons who were honorably discharged” from military service.

The corresponding Veterans' Burial Cards can be found here: Veterans' Burial Records

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WILLIAMS COUNTY RECORDER:

Veteran’s Graves Registration

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

When the Great Depression hit the United States in 1929, the American economy hit rock bottom. The value of the dollar became nearly worthless and millions of Americans lost their jobs. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced “The New Deal,” a series of new programs designed to pick America back up on to its feet and get the economy moving again. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was one of those programs.

Initially designed to fund the building and improvement of America’s infrastructure, it also funded Veterans Graves Registration, the arts, history, and culture of America. In short, the WPA employed out-of-work Americans who were certified by local agencies as meeting certain qualifications.

Job & Industrial Growth:

The WPA was born in 1935 with an initial appropriation of $4.88 billion dollars from the Emergency Relief Fund. In 1939, the WPA was renamed the Works Projects Administration. Over it’s eight years in existence, the WPA employed approximately 8.5 million Americans, and spent a total of $11 billion dollars. It remains today as the most vigorous attempt in history to stimulate the U.S economy. The WPA was responsible for building structures; it paved 651,000 miles of road, built 78,000 bridges, 8,000 parks, and 800 airports. 

Humanities Projects:

The WPA funded some programs in the humanities including:

• Federal Arts Project
• Federal Theatre Project
• Federal Writers Project
• Historical Records Survey (HRS)
• National Health Survey

 Veteran’s Grave Registration Program:

Locally the WPA funded a Veteran’s Grave Registration program. WPA workers would visit every cemetery in Williams County, map out the cemetery and provide locations of each Veteran’s gravesite. 

This information does not provide veteran’s identification, simply identifies where the veteran is buried in each cemetery and which war they served in. This information was compiled in 1940 and therefore, does not include any information after that date. The records from this project are compiled by Township.

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ADDITIONAL REFERENCES:

THE END OF AN ERA: THE WPA YEARS IN OHIO – OHIO MEMORY

https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/archives/3362

HISTORY WEBSITE

https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/works-progress-administration

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"The United States African-American Burial Grounds Preservation Program" - Additional Details

The website for the National Park Service has published an article entitled.:  

"What is the Consolidated Appropriations Act and what does it mean for the National Park Service?"

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Also this quote from the "Richmond Free Press" from December 29, 2022.:

"The cemetery preservation act is listed on page 2,954 of the massive omnibus funding bill. It establishes the first ever program in the National Park Service to provide grant opportunities and technical assistance to groups that research, identify, survey and preserve the sites.

The legislation provides the Park Service with $3 million a year through 2027 to award in grants."

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