Just to let you all know, I received an email from Blythe Construction today concerning the old Smith cemetery. They say they have no plans to destruct or move the cemetery. Thanks to all of you who thought it worthy to respond concerning the cemetery. I also am including a copy of the original article in the Salisbury Post informing all they WERE going to move it. Until we got involved. Dan Patterson Rowan County Information OnLine www.GoRowan.com By Mark Wineka, Salisbury Post An estimated 60 to 75 graves, judged close to 200 years old, will have to be moved to make way for the widening of Interstate 85 near East Spencer. N.C. Department of Transportation officials will transfer whatever remains they find at the long-forgotten cemetery to the old County Home cemetery near the Agricultural Center off Old Concord Road. The graves, part of property now belonging to Aldi Inc. off Old Union Church Road, southeast of I-85, are identified as the Smith or Schmit family cemetery, according to records found at the Rowan Public Library's History Room. The graves are in an overgrown area populated by trees at least 100 years old. Most graves are unmarked. There is a hand-cut headstone with a date from 1802 or 1807 and a collection of rocks, of which only one is inscribed. "Iwould describe it as abandoned," said Ronald Eaton, senior right-of-way agent for the Department of Transportation's Winston-Salem office. No burials have occurred at the family cemetery "in many, many years," he added. State officials will run a legal advertisement in the Salisbury Post on four consecutive Wednesdays in November, notifying the "known and unknown relatives" of the people buried on the Aldi property of the plans to relocate the graves. State officials have contacted one possible Smith descendant, Wanda T. Williams, but otherwise, they know of no other living connections to the cemetery, Eaton said. Plats will be drawn of where each grave was dug up on the Aldi property and replaced at the county property. Those records will be available at the Rowan Public Library and Rowan County Register of Deeds office. A Pinehurst expert in grave relocation served as a consultant for the state in surveying the cemetery. He estimated the site could harbor 60 to 75 graves. "Until we scalp the top layer of soil, we really don't know how many people are there," Eaton said. The individual graves will be marked mostly by a discoloration in the dirt, Eaton said. The state will take that dirt and whatever remains it might fine, put the contents in a box and move it to the County Home cemetery. "It's something we deal with more than once yearly across the state," Eaton said. "We do it with all care, diligence and dignity. ... We're pretty careful with it." The graves will not have markers at the County Home property. The Department of Transportation is running the newspaper advertisements as its last effort to notify any possible descendants about the pending move. Eaton said this number of graves being moved in Rowan County is higher than what the state normally moves in various highway projects. But it's not unusual. "I've seen one moved, and I've seen a hundred," Eaton said. The state pays all the costs of the transfer. For the county's help in providing a new place for the graves, the state will give Rowan County a piece of property it owns on Ritchie Road next to the county's industrial park. Rowan County Manager Tim Russell confirmed Thursday the Ritchie Road property probably makes the most sense for the state and county, though officials discussed several different properties more than a year ago. Eaton said he doubted the weather will be good enough to move the graves in December, once the ads have run. He expects the move to take place in the spring. "Generally, it takes a couple of days," Eaton said. Anyone who might be a descendant of people buried on the land in question should call Eaton at 336-760-8737. Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263, or [email protected]