Cemetery Preservation
RGA provides a broad range of cemetery preservation services to individuals, families, churches, non-profits, state and federal agencies, and municipalities for cemeteries of all sizes. Our qualified staff takes a “hands-on” approach that in helping clients determine their cemetery needs. We understand the difficulties associated with cemeteries that have been abandoned, vandalized, and undocumented, as well as the negative effects of inappropriate conservation techniques and materials. Our highly specialized staff have advanced degrees, training, and certifications in material conservation. Our material conservators have earned Professional Associate status with the American Institute for Conservation and are certified to use JAHN Masonry Restoration Mortar Systems. Our cemetery specialists have conducted historical research, written conditions assessments, local landmark and National Register of Historic Places nominations, cemetery preservation plans, scopes of work for cemetery projects that require adherence to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and delivered in-person and virtual presentations on cemetery preservation. Our geophysical archaeologists are trained to use non-invasive and cost-effective remote sensing techniques to identify unmarked graves.
Our services include:
- Historical Research
- Cemetery Conditions Assessments
- Conservation and repair of damaged and broken gravemarkers and cemetery fencing
- Hands-on outdoor workshops for municipal crews responsible for the preservation of cemeteries that cover the basics of cleaning and resetting gravestones for lay audiences and municipal maintenance crews
- Historic cemetery gravemarker surveys
- Countywide cemetery surveys
- Geophysical survey techniques, such as ground penetrating radar (GPR), LiDAR, and magnetometry, to identify unmarked graves
- Outdoor interpretive signage, brochures, and web-based cemetery guides for education and heritage tourism
- Archaeological monitoring and grave relocation
- Historic preservation and maintenance plans tailored to your cemetery
Clients for whom RGA has provided cemetery preservation services include:
- City of Raleigh, Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources, Raleigh, North Carolina
- City of Franklin, Tennessee
- Passaic County Historic and Cultural Affairs Department, Passaic County, New Jersey
- City of Morehead City, North Carolina
- Luke’s Episcopal Church, Lincolnton, North Carolina
- Walnut Grove Plantation Cemetery, Roebuck, South Carolina
- Monticello Association, Monticello Graveyard, Albemarle County, Virginia
- American Association for State and Local History, Nashville, Tennessee
- Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office
- Association for Gravestone Studies
- Preservation New Jersey
- Preservation Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Hallowed Grounds
- Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi
- Greenwood Cemetery Association, Jackson Mississippi
- Nantucket Cemetery Commission, Nantucket, Massachusetts
- Old Stone Church Cemetery, Pendleton, South Carolina
- Woodland Cemetery, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina
- Hoyle Historic Homestead, Dallas, North Carolina
- Oil Region Alliance, Oil City, Pennsylvania
- Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina
- Lake James State Historic Site, Nebo, North Carolina
- City of Waynesville, North Carolina
- Town of Wendell, North Carolina
- Town of Wake Forest, North Carolina
- Historic Bath, Bath, North Carolina
- Friends of Geer Cemetery, Durham, North Carolina
RGA’s cemetery professionals have over 20 years of experience in cemetery preservation and exceed the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualification Standards for History, Architectural History, and Archaeology.
RGA is fully-insured.
RGA is a member of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and subscribes to their standards of practice and code of ethics.
