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Back in September 2018 I finally made it out to the Rodney Cemetery in Rodney, Mississippi. For whatever reason, I wasn’t able to get to the cemetery until then. Then in late February 2020 I was able to revisit the cemetery. I was able to see all the hard work a group of volunteers did during clean up. Today I wanted to share some images from those visits.
The Rodney Cemetery in Rodney, Mississippi
The Rodney Cemetery in Rodney, Mississippi sits above the town on a wooded bluff and looks down and across the old town. It sits just behind the Rodney Presbyterian Church that was chartered in 1828.
You will find the grave stones of early settlers, those living in or near the town during the early days of the town, those that lived across the river in St. Joseph, those that lost their lives while traveling the river and more modern burial sites. During the Civil War Confederate forces ran their trenches within the cemetery and the main earthworks on the bluff – According to Rodney History & Preservation and National Register Nomination in 1973.
My Visits to the Rodney Cemetery in Rodney, Mississippi
For those that visit Rodney, Mississippi its to explore the area, photograph the old churches, photography the buildings, and visit this little ghost town (its really not a ghost town, people live in town, just not a lot of people). Most people, including myself, didn’t know there was a cemetery or couldn’t figure out where it was and how to get to it.
Getting to the cemetery isn’t easy if you aren’t in shape. Its a short 5 minute to 10 minute walk up a steep dirt road. The road isn’t maintained and there isn’t a place to turn your vehicle around once you get to the top.
The Rodney Cemetery in Rodney, Mississippi is in rough condition but the Rodney History and Preservation Society is working to restore the cemetery. They have someone out restoring damaged headstones and they are doing yearly clean ups and minor clean ups each year. I noticed that the bluff is eroding and will take some of the gravesites in the near future.
I wasn’t able to photograph all the headstones and some day I will. As I make more visits I will photograph photograph as many headstones I can.
According to Find A Grave the oldest grave marker is for H.S. Caulking who was buried in 1819! and the newest grave marker is for Margaret Floravene “Maggie” Welch Burkley who died in 1949. There may be some newer ones but they aren’t documented in Find A Grave. Once I can verify this, I will update the article.
2018 Visit
My first visit in September 2018 was a difficult visit. It looked and felt like a jungle. It was hot and sticky with biting bugs everywhere. From what I could tell the cemetery had not been cleaned up in years. I know various groups have cleaned it up over the years but to me it look like it had been decades since it was cleaned up. There were downed trees everywhere, broken headstones, and even some theft of the iron works that surrounded some of the family plots.
The weeds and brush were so bad it was up to my waist in some places. I tripped over broken headstones and even rammed my knee into one that I didn’t see. That area is known to have copperhead snakes and rattlesnakes. With how bad it was I shouldn’t have gone into it. But once I got up there, I didn’t want to leave.
2020 Visit
Rodney History and Preservation Society held a volunteer cemetery clean up on February 3rd, 2019 they had a large clean up party. The volunteers came not only all over Mississippi but also from Washington, Arizona, Virginia, Florida, and Louisiana. Over 65 people showed up to clean up. I missed out on this visit and didn’t make it out to the cemetery that year.
Then on February 22, 2020 they had another clean up party. I originally planned to be in Mississippi that weekend but things changed and I came a week later and was able to explore the newly cleaned cemetery. They did an impressive job. But just a few days later, vines and weeds were already start their assault on the historic cemetery.
I spent almost an hour at the cemetery and I realized I need to schedule a longer visit to explore the cemetery. I plan on revisit during the winter months hopefully after a clean up.
Tips for exploring the Rodney Cemetery in Rodney, Mississippi
My suggestion is pack all your gear you might need take a bottle or two water. Plan to stay at least 30 minutes if you are just looking around. If you are a photographer you could easily spend several hours up there. If that’s the case, you don’t want to make the hike several times.
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- Bring a couple of bottles of water. In the warmer months its hot and humid
- Apply bug spray before going to the cemetery and apply more as needed
- Walking sticks and mono pods work great for walking around in the high brush and can be used to kill a snake
- Where comfortable pants no shorts
- Hiking boots are best but a good pair of shoes are a good option as well
- Go early in the day if you want to see wildlife. Mid day is good for lighting
About the Images
Images shot in 2018 were shot on a Sunny afternoon in the woods. I used my Sony a6000 and the Sony 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS Power Zoom Lens and shot by hand. I then edited the images with Adobe Lightroom CC and Topaz Labs Denoise AI and Topaz Labs Sharpen AI and DXO NIK Collection to clean up the image, remove noise, and recover the lost details.
Images shot in 2020 were shot on a sunny early afternoon day in the woods. Due to the low light I had to do a lot of editing. Sony a6000 and my Sony SELP18105G E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS with a Gobe UV Filter by hand. I then edited the images with Adobe Lightroom CC and Topaz Labs Denoise AI and Topaz Labs Sharpen AI and DXO NIK Collection to clean up the image, remove noise, and recover the lost details.
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