The seventh annual Hampton Cemetery Walk will be held Sunday.
The walk will begin at the north entrance of the cemetery and Paul Flint, a member of the Friends of the Hampton Cemetery, tells RadioOnTheGo News with help from the Franklin County Arts Council, attendees will learn about some of Hampton’s early residents.
“We have three shuttles that will allow people to ride through the cemetery or those that want to walk certainly can take the walking trail. We’ll feature six former residents that have a story to tell about their history. It’s a very interesting group this year. One of the persons that we’re going to talk about on Sunday is the first person that owned a flushing toilet in Franklin County and how all the neighbors used to come by. Once it was installed, it was a big thrill to come watch operating toilet. Another individual had three doctorate degrees and was fairly instrumental in the space program. He put together some algorithms and some studies that helped some of very early space program projects. So come out and listen to some of the things that go back to Franklin County and Hampton roots.”
Proceeds from the event will go toward improvements at the cemetery and Flint says there are a lot of projects they are looking at this year.
“The upkeep of the cemetery is one of the more expensive ventures that the city has to take care of. As most of you have known, we’ve had a lot of tree damage this year and as most of you have seen the line of ash trees that have been removed from the drive on the south side of the cemetery. So that street, the city has budgeted to be resurfaced in the next year. A couple other things, the money that we raised from the walk will go toward are the restoration of the two mausoleums. We’re moving toward trying to get that done. It won’t be till the last of ’25 because we have some legal things to go through. The other thing that we find is needed in the cemetery is just general upkeep. The funds go toward picking up, removing trash, removing limbs, stone cleaning. Those are a couple of things that we’ll additionally work on this year.”
The seventh annual Hampton Cemetery Walk is Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at the north entrance. Admission is $10 and refreshments will be provided.
