Nice song. Well done as usual.

My mom and brother live in Staunton Va. There is an old mental hospital there which served the state for many years. It was closed and reopened for a time as a prison, and then closed again. It is still state property although the buildings have now been sold to a developer who is converting them to luxury condos. The old complex has a number of buildings and they have just completed the second building.

On the hill behind the institution, there is a graveyard exactly like you describe. The state didn't wish to spend much money on the people when they died so their head stones were made from Chestnut wood in the old days and concrete in more recent times. Neither concrete nor wood handle time well so all that remains now are some broken cement "stones" with rebar in them and all the wood headstones were rotted, knocked down by the tractors used to cut the grass, and now, only one old wooden plaque remains next to a concrete one at the very top of the hill near a tree. The lower part of the hill has the concrete markers and they are still there. The wooden ones are but a memory as, I would imagine, are the names of the people in the graves on that hillside.

This was typical for the wooden markers, Most are now gone.... this one and one more are all that remain standing



Wooden Marker

At one time this marker was among wooden markers. A close look under the tree at the bottom of the hill and one can see concrete markers



Concrete marker up the hill

This marker will likely be the last wooden one since it sets beside a tree where the mowers can't reach



Wooden marker by the tree

At the top of the hill, this is a rare marble marker on a grave next to the wooden one.



Wooden marker next to a rare marble marker

Last edited by Guitarhacker; 12/08/13 03:59 PM.
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