Off The Beaten Path

Blog-offpath1-TB-2592x3872Imagine walking in the woods looking for Tupperware using expensive satellites…otherwise known as geocaching…and tripping, most literally, over a tombstone. That is what happened to us a few years ago off the Eastern Trail near Portland.

Always the intrepid explorers, John and I were out geocaching with our dog off of the Eastern Trail in 2010. We stumbled across several stones hidden in the trees. We wondered if they were real or something placed by a creative team as they were just before a rather creepy skull geocache (pictured in the header). We photographed them and discussed our thoughts around how they had gotten there.

In December of 2012, imagine my surprise at seeing them as the lead story in our little local paper, the Scarborough Leader. Come to find out they are actually real and are a part of a small family cemetery dating back to at least 1790, almost 100 years before the town’s first cemetery was established.  Once holding what was believed to be 17 graves, the only remaining intact stone is that of David Wilber a 14-day old infant that died in 1793. His stone is adorned with a death’s head and has two large holes through the monument.  The land it sits on was once part of the Eben Lilly Farm.

According to the article, the Scarborough Historical Society has been working to document the town’s cemeteries, photographing them and noting who is buried there.  The small cemetery is also one of dozens mapped through GPS by Code Enforcement Officer Tom Reinsborough and Scarborough Police Capt. Marla St. Pierre to aid in notifying individuals who may be planning construction in or around their location.

Next time you are walking in the woods, whether geocaching, Bigfoot hunting or just plain moseying, take a look around, especially down, and see what you may be passing by. Who knows what you may find.

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