Rockville Cemetery  Memory Garden Cemetery  Poor Farm Cemetery  New Discovery Cemetery  Mount Olivet Cemetery  Rosedale Cemetery  Clear Run Cemetery  Branson Cemetery  Montezuma Cemetery (Old)  Oakland Cemetery, Montezuma  Guion/Bruin Cemetery  Blake Cemetery  Rowe Cemetery  Sandcreek Cemetery  Cheadle Cemetery  Elder Cemetery   Bloomingdale Cemetery   Union Cemetery

Rockville Cemetery: Stormy Dusk New Discovery Church: The Next Morning

            Parke County, "The Covered Bridge Capitol", might well be known as the Cemetery Capitol also, as there are 207 known cemeteries in the county (many more than there are bridges). The Parke County InGen Web Page has a list of all known cemeteries in Parke County. Not all are worth visiting as some are old and unkempt, and others are, or were, small family plot cemeteries with only a few graves. The one's we visited were all in decent condition, except where noted, but contain headstones that are weather worn and difficult, if not impossible, to read. The Rockville Library has a book on most of the cemeteries and interments in them, as well as an index. Before visiting cemeteries it should be consulted, as it may eliminate some of these from the search list. It's also necessary to remember that some burials were not recorded and that old grave markers, especially those made of wood or cement, may be gone altogether, and as in the case of the Poor Farm, the cemetery itself may not exist. We did not look at or count all the gravestones in the cemeteries we visited naturally, (and we visited few considering their numbers), but all had a sufficient quantity of markers and were in the right areas to attract our attention.
            The first section of cemeteries listed below we have visited, and a short synopsis of them has been provided before the actual directions. The second sections' cemeteries were not visited by us and we took the directions from U.S.G.S. maps found in the Rockville and Terre Haute Libraries. For all we know they might be corn fields by now. Both Libraries have excellent maps locating known cemeteries for their respective counties in their reference sections hanging on the wall. Unfortunately they can't be taken out of the libraries. The Parke County Visitors Center on Ohio St.  (Hwy. 36) in Rockville was very helpful, but only had a reduced Xerox copy of a cemetery locator
map that is very hard to read. We were told that it came out of an old Parke County Guide brochure that's no longer available. Anyone wishing to do serious cemetery hunting would be well advised to order U.S.G.S. 7-1/2 minute quadrangle maps of the areas to be searched. Not all cemeteries are shown on these maps and a visit to the library to transfer information onto the quadrangle maps would be a good idea. The Quadrangle maps we looked at were: Rockville, Mecca, Catlin, Bloomingdale, and Montezuma. The maps can be ordered from many large map or sporting good stores, especially those dealing in camping and backpack equipment, across the country.
USGS Map Infomation

            The following directions are not in alphabetical order but assumes that Rockville is your starting point. Some are arranged in such a way that one set of directions leads to the next and some use the Covered Bridge Tour routs as guides. Maps of the Tour routs are available at the Visitors Center on Highway 36 east of the Parke County Courthouse in Rockville.
            Just a note to let you know that the Courthouse, Visitors Center, Town Hall and Library are easy to find in Rockville. You can't miss them if you look, but if for some reason you do miss them the people of Parke County are among the friendliest on earth, so just ask anyone. The cemeteries themselves are a different story, but you'll get the same "more than willing to help" assistance from anyone you happen to pass on the street or waves to you from their porch.

This section contains cemeteries that were visited.

Rockville Cemetery-Gravestones back to 1700s. Plot maps and burial records are kept in the Town Hall on High Street across (south) from the Parke County Court House. They also have a list of the county Township Trusties who maintain some cemetery records. The clerks are friendly and helpful. The cemetery is well kept but some old headstones along the edges and rear are unreadable, especially the flat type, and are hard to find. Take along a brush to clear dirt and mud out of engravings and something to cut grass away from some of these. More recent headstones are in excellent shape.
**** The cemetery  is located in Rockville on the south side of High Street about 1/8 mile east from the Town Hall (walking distance, if you like to walk), or cut south through the Visitors Center parking lot from Highway 36 (Ohio St.), turn left (east) on High Street and you can't miss it.

Memory Gardens Cemetery-Founded 1957. Records are kept by the curator and located on the property at the rear of the cemetery in the maintenance office. All head stones are in good shape and easy to read.
**** The cemetery is located in Rockville on the east side of highway 41 about 3/4 mile north of Highway 36.

Poor Farm Cemetery-Now the Parke County Nursing Home. The cemetery is gone, planted over by crops. No records were found at the nursing home and the employees there don't know anything in regard to it's location on the property. The property was originally the Parke County Sanitarium and it's most likely that patients  were interred in this cemetery. The Rockville Library has an old ledger book; the sanitariums' records of inmates, and it might be of some help in locating names.
****  From Rockville turn left (west) on Howard Street where it crosses Highway 41 (north of Highway 36) and turn right (north) on Bloomingdale (if you wind up in a residential district you didn't go far enough down Howard Street).  Go about 1 mile to the brick building set back from the street a hundred yards or so on the right (east). Not much to do here, but it gives you a feel for the area.

New Discovery, Original and New-Gravestones back to the early 1800s. This one can be hard to find. It's in decent shape and the new section is in excellent condition. A Mr. Ford who owns the property lives just west of the cemetery and may have some knowledge of the cemetery, although he wasn't home when we stopped by. Some headstones are weather worn and broken in the older section. Look closely along the edges for some old headstones of the flat type. Take along cleaning tools. You may need to make rubbings of the hard to read ones. Some maps show two cemeteries named New Discovery but they're actually right next to each other and appear as one. The Rockville Library has an excellent history of New Discovery Church (no longer in use) which is located across the street from the cemetery. Take a camera; the church is picturesque and still has a bell in the belfry.
**** Take Highway 36 east from Rockville several miles to 160S, or as one local called it, "The Water Company Road". It's easy to spot as there is a blue Rockville Water Department plant on the southwest corner.  Turn right (south). Follow this gravel road south a 1/2 mile or so to where it curves east, crosses a bridge and continues south-easterly. The gray, New Discovery Church will be on the right (south) side of the road and the cemetery on the left (north) directly across the street from the church, and about 1/2 mile past the bridge.

Mount Olivet Cemetery-Gravestones back to the early 1800s. This was another church cemetery although the church is no longer in use and has been vandalized. There was an old sign lying on the church floor inviting all those interested to a gathering that night, date unspecified. Maybe to repair all the broken windows and the damaged piano. The cemetery is well maintained and easy to find. As usual there are older, harder to find, and read headstones along the edges and rear boundaries. Tools for clearing and cleaning may be required for some of these.
**** Take Market Street (the road to Rosedale) south out of Rockville. After a nice drive of several miles you should spot the cemetery atop a hill on the right (west) side of the road. A dirt driveway turns into the cemetery and takes you to the top of the knoll. An American flag flies from a flag pole planted at the crest. The Church is adjacent to the cemetery to the south.

Rosedale Cemetery-Founded 1957. In excellent condition as seen from the street. We were looking for a date in the 1890s so knew looking here wasn't necessary. It was also farther away than "Just outside Rockville."
**** Take Market street (the road to Rosedale) south from Rockville past the Mt. Olivet cemetery and continue on to Rosedale. The road curves west and south a few times as it approaches town, but stay on the well paved road and you'll be there soon. The cemetery is on the left (east) side of the street (now called Cemetery Street) about a block north of Central Street and the Rosedale Elementary School.

Clear Run Cemetery-Gravestones back to the early 1800s. Just outside (south) of Bridgeton. Well maintained and organized. Rows are easy to make out at the point farthest from the entrance, but less well defined at the other end where the older graves are located. Once again the boundaries in the older section hide some headstones, and cleaning tools may be helpful.
**** From the Rosedale Cemetery continue south a block to Central Street where the Rockville-Rosedale road ends. Turn left (east) and follow the signs to Bridgeton. The road makes many turns north and east so follow the signs carefully. This road is part of the Covered Bridge Tour, Red Route (a map of the Covered Bridge Tour routes can be obtained at the Rockville Visitors Center) and those signs can be followed as well. Just before entering Bridgeton you will find the Cemetery on the left side of the road.

Branson Cemetery-Gravestones back to the early 1800s and possibly earlier. Barely maintained and somewhat hidden, but visible from the road if you pay attention. This one is best looked for with a second person in the car, or you might run off the road trying to spot it. Many broken and weather worn headstones. An excellent picture spot set in a wooded glen, just past Fallen Rock, on a little hillside. Take insect repellent. After you have spotted the cemetery drive on a few more yards so you can park on a straighter, wider part of the road and walk back. The entrance is hard to find and crosses a ditch, so driving in might be hazardous. Cleaning and clearing tools may be needed and look closely along the boundaries for hidden headstones.
**** From Clear Run Cemetery follow the covered bridge route through Bridgeton and check out the bridge on the other side of town. Switch to the Black Covered Bridge Route to Mansfield. The road makes a sharp turn north after several miles, twists and turns and winds it's way to Fallen Rock, which is advertised on billboards along the way. After passing Fallen Rock and entering a forested  hollow, keep a close eye out to the left and you should spot some headstones on a hill, between the trees.

Montezuma Cemetery (Old)-Gravestones from early 1800s. Easy to find but hard to search. The "old" cemetery in Montezuma. Barely maintained and unkempt. Many headstones have been broken or are weather worn. In fact you'd be hard pressed to find the exact position some of these were originally placed in, since they've been moved and now lean against trees. But at least they're there. A nice shady field though, taking up a residential blocks worth of real estate amongst houses in the residential part of town. This cemetery has no fences (lined with bushes and trees) making the border areas easier to search. Cleaning tools may be helpful.
**** Take highway 36 west from Rockville and proceed to Montezuma, about a twenty minute drive. Turn left (south) on Madison for a few blocks and the cemetery will be on your left.

Oakland Cemetery, Montezuma-Gravestones back to the 1800s. This is a large cemetery and very well maintained. The Montezuma Town Hall on Jackson Street maintains the burial records on computer and seems happy to do name searches.
**** Take highway 36 west from Rockville and proceed to Montezuma, about a twenty minute drive. Turn right (north) on Jefferson Street for about a 1/4 mile and the cemetery will be on your left (west). The Montezuma Town Hall is on Jackson Street a few blocks north of Highway 36 in a blue building on the left (west). The Rockville Town Hall has their phone number if you want to call first.

Guion/Bruin Cemetery- Gravestones from the 1800s. This one we stumbled on while looking for another. It's small (probably less than fifty graves) and in decent shape, but contains many weathered and unreadable headstones. Look along the borders for some that are hard to find. Cleaning and clearing tools may be helpful.
**** Take Highway 36 east out of Rockville to Highway 59 at Bellmore. Turn left (north) on 59 and follow until about 1/2 mile before it ends at a T-intersection with Highway 236. The cemetery is on the left (west) side of the road set in a clearing in the forest. It's easy to spot as long as you keep your eyes peeled to the left.

The next section contains cemeteries that were not visited and the directions were taken
from U.S.G.S. maps.

Blake Cemetery-A small cemetery. We stumbled on this one while looking for New Discovery. The records are kept by a family that lives near-by. They looked through the records for us. Unsuccessfully, I might add. Their house is on the right (west) side of Highway 59, just south of 200S, which is a gravel road south of 36, and just happens to lead back to New Discovery. He told us that most of the headstones were in a pile in the center of the cemetery, but that he goes up there every once in a while to clean up. We decided that his records were good enough for us, and that from his description of the cemetery's condition,  we need not bother with a visit.
**** Take Highway 36 east from Rockville to Bellmore and turn right (south) on Highway 59 for  about 2 miles and the cemetery should be off to the right (west).

Rowe Cemetery-Take Highway 36 east from Rockville to the Billy Creek Village area. Just across the road from Billy Creek is a road that takes off at an oblique angle. Turn left (north-east) on this road and go about 1 1/8 mile to a railroad cut, just before you reach Nyesville, and turn right (East) on the road there. The Cemetery is located by the railroad cut, between 500 and a 1000 feet from the main road.

Sandcreek Cemetery-Gravestones going back to the mid 1800s. All but two unreadable due to weathering and breakage. All are lying on the ground. (As noted by Miss Sandra Satterfield in the cemetery book at the Rockville Library. She lists the information she took off them; Elsey and Boos).
**** From Rowe Cemetery continue north about a mile, to just past Sandcreek Church, on the main road to Nyesville. Take the first street east from Nyesville. The road follows a south east direction and in about 1000 yards you'll find the cemetery. The cemetery is between forks where the road splits, in a grassy area.

Cheadle Cemetery-From Sandcreek Cemetery return to the main road, turn right (north-east) and continue on to Judson. Turn right (east) on the paved road at the easterly end of town and continue on past the sharp curve to the south, to a hill on the right side of the road. The cemetery is on top of the hill.

Elder Cemetery-Take highway 41 north from Highway 36 out of Rockville and drive about 2 3/4 miles to a paved road on the right (east). Follow the paved road to a left turn onto another paved road and turn left (north) 1 1/8 mile. Cemetery is on the right (east) side of road just past a T-intersection.

Bloomingdale Cemetery-Take Highway 41 north from Highway 36 out of Rockville to Howard Street. Turn left (west) on Howard for about 1/2 mile and then turn right (north) on Bloomingdale and continue on (past Poor Farm Cemetery) about 1 1/2 miles. The cemetery is located on Bloomingdale road just outside town. There is an original and new section so check on both sides of the road.

Union Cemetery-Take Highway 41 south from Highway 36 out of Rockville about 2 1/4 miles (about 1 mile before you reach Bradfield Corner) and turn left on an unimproved road to the cemetery, on the left, where the road bends again to the left.