Drove past the Tolleston and Waldheim cemeteries today (20th & Grant st., Gary IN), as I usually do each work day, and decided to drive around to the back section where the Waldheim cemetery is (didnt even know it was there due to the overgrowth before) and noticed that there is now a for sale sign less than 10 feet from a headstone. The name on the stone, which is knocked over, is Mulligan. The sign says "For Sale ; Lake County Surplus Properties ; 219-662-0079 ; Refer to: 25-43-0016-0027" How can the Lake County Govt offer a cemetery for sale to the general public?? The cemetery is the only thing occupying that block, so it is that which is for sale. I know it is in bad shape and has been neglected for years with no one to care for it, and I assume they want the tax money from the 2 full city block land. But what about the people buried there? Supposedly an astronauts family is there (Otto Borman), and most of the first settlers/pioneers of village of Tolleston (now a section of Gary IN), and founders of the St John Lutheran Church. There is a great history there, starting back in the 1860's. Why don't the historical or genealogical societies in the area seem to be doing or saying anything? I know they dont have the funding to take care of it, but they could at least give input to the Govt people taking over. <A HREF="http://khuish.tripod.com/seeger.jpg"> </A> Here's some photos I took this afternoon...but keep in mind I only had available a $20 camera, one-hour developing, and took a picture of the picture with a webcam attached to my computer. If you've ever been near the cemetery you can tell what a difference they made cleaning it up...but now I think we might know WHY they suddenly cleaned it. Click on the links, or copy the URL to your browser. <A HREF="http://khuish.tripod.com/forsale.jpg"> http://khuish.tripod.com/forsale.jpg</A> For sale sign, square object is the stone. <A HREF="http://khuish.tripod.com/grantst.jpg"> http://khuish.tripod.com/grantst.jpg</A> View towards Grant St <A HREF="http://khuish.tripod.com/grant3.jpg"> http://khuish.tripod.com/grant3.jpg</A> another view <A HREF="http://khuish.tripod.com/repair.jpg"> http://khuish.tripod.com/repair.jpg</A> A stone they repaired with some kind of cement or caulk, but they almost completely filled in the surname on the stone. <A HREF="http://khuish.tripod.com/seeger.jpg"> http://khuish.tripod.com/seeger.jpg</A> SEEGER stone with a couple broken pieces laying on top. <A HREF="http://khuish.tripod.com/waldheim.jpg"> http://khuish.tripod.com/waldheim.jpg</A> Waldheim cemetery gates....within 50 feet of the for sale sign. <A HREF="http://www.rootsweb.com/~inlake/tollcem.htm">St John's Lutheran Church Cemetery, Tolleston (Gary)</A> http://www.rootsweb.com/~inlake/tollcem.htm Above is a listing of those buried at Tolleston, a brief history of the settlers and their former town, and photo of a marker which I havent seen anywhere...may be gone by now. There are many families buried together here, and many many children as most of the graves are before 1920. Many of the families had stone walls (about 8 inches high) erected around their groups, or burials as shown in the picture below which looks like 2 adults and one small child length graves. <A HREF="http://khuish.tripod.com/famplot.jpg"> http://khuish.tripod.com/famplot.jpg</A> Is there anything that can be done? It seems like it would be covered under either the county or township laws regarding abandoned cemeteries. <A HREF="http://www.ai.org/legislative/ic/code/title23/ar14/ch68.html"> Indiana Code 23-14-68</A> -TWP <A HREF="http://www.ai.org/legislative/ic/code/title23/ar14/ch67.html"> Indiana Code 23-14-67</A> -County Kathy Huish CC Lake County IN GenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~inlake/