MACON, Ga. — Rose Hill Cemetery will be 180 years old this year, but with age comes a lot of wear and tear.
On Tuesday, state prisoners were out cleaning up, but for a 50-acre cemetery, there's only so much prisoners can do. That's why Joey Fernandez is working restore Rose Hill.
"When we found this, it was basically about to fall over. Just putting this back together was better than it falling over," Fernandez said while pointing to the repairs they made to a grave.
Over a year ago, Fernandez and some volunteers began cleaning up some of the graves, including some from soldiers in the Spanish-American and Civil wars.
"We've replaced eight and cleaned and touched all 600 of them," Fernandez said, showing the progress he and the team has made to the Confederate graveyard.
In most cases, the damage you see is the effect of time, so Fernandez does his usual routine to repair. He typically uses D/2, a biological solution, to clean the graves, and a setting compound around the creases to keep the water from running in.
Fernandez says he tries to use the same materials that they used in the 1800s and 1900s as much as possible.
In some cases of the grave damage, it's straight up vandalism, and Fernandez says is difficult to restore.
Today, the sandstone terrace that was made famous from appearing on an Allman Brothers' album cover is now covered in graffiti.
Now, a monument conservationist is scheduled to come in to help advise the cemetery on how to mend and preserve the monument.
"This is a lot of history here. A lot of things have happened here, and thousands of people are buried here. It's just something we need to pass on to other future generations," Fernandez said.
Moving forward, Fernandez says their plan is to repair and re-level every stone in the cemetery.
"In Victorian times, people would actually come here to picnic and gather just to enjoy the beautiful setting. Rose Hill is an absolute prime example of that," said Aubrey Newby, a local historian.
Fernandez says that's what he hopes the cemetery will one day be again.
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