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 While enrolled in a “Designing for Success” course hosted by the Elberton Granite Institute, I took the opportunity to photograph some of the more interesting memorials in Elmhurst Cemetery, located in Elberton, Georgia.
While the Elmhurst Cemetery does not have the great quantity of heirloom memorials on the distinguished scale of Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, the Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, or the Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, it does offer a wide variety of beautiful and interesting memorials that demonstrate an abundance of eclectic styles.
One of the most beautiful memorials built within recent generations was produced for the Scales family. The monument has considerable mass, appearing to have a width of 12 inches or more for the tablet.
The top is serpentine with pencil round ends. The lettering on the face of the memorial is square-raised, offering a nice balance to the high relief style with the pine bough that graces the top left side and top of the tablet. A small scotia and nosing adorns the bottom of the tablet. Interestingly, the urns on each end of the table are decorative only, without a removable top. The base is showing some water staining that might have been prevented with a sealed bottom for the tablet, or by a raised foundation.
This is a remarkable memorial created by superb craftsmen. The major point that I like to make is that I prefer to tell the family story, and the story is more important than the memorial from my viewpoint. Tell the story, and you create a memorial; without a story, you primarily have a work of art.
I congratulate the Scales family for being willing to step outside the box to create a memorial that will be enjoyed for all who visit the cemetery in perpetuity.
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