Morningstar Burial

This is one cemetery that actually does fit the description of an abandoned place. It is arguably the most secluded burial ground in the entire Niagara region, as it is unmaintained and surrounded by private, posted property, with no longer any publicly accessible way of getting to it. The area was once a fruit orchard on the old Wale farm, found in the Douglastown area of the Niagara River Parkway. But 150 years of overgrowth has left the cemetery buried far back in a middle-aged forest. In 1984, seven headstones were found here and last transcribed. Surnames listed in that last publication included Krafft, Morningstar, Neas, Barnhart, and Everett. Two headstones are still erect, with nature threatening to completely engulf the others with ground-cover. Even with no foliage, the markers are difficult to locate. Standing at the rotting old cemetery sign, I initially thought the location was empty and that the headstones had been removed. Carefully picking through the undergrowth and sweeping aside leaves and moss revealed them.