Bob Collins
There are 6,000 or so cemeteries in Minnesota and over half of them may be abandoned, according to the Minnesota state archeologist, Scott Anfinson.
Also: Minnesota has a state archeologist.
“A lot of them are family cemeteries that are on farmsteads,” he tells KARE 11.
And farmers want more ground to plant so some are plowing some of the cemeteries under.
Should the cemeteries be saved?
Anfinson wants a full-time person to help do so.
“If we had a full time person dedicated to cemeteries I think a lot would get done,” he said. “This is hallowed ground and it deserves to be preserved.”
But if the cemeteries are abandoned, and the headstones don’t reveal the name of a person, haven’t the people buried there already been forgotten to time?
