Contact:
Jay Frey, president, Ohio County Cemeteries Foundation
(304) 312-1787
jameshfrey@gmail.com
Call for Volunteers
The Ohio County Cemeteries Foundation needs your help as we undertake our first restoration work session at Wheeling’s historic Peninsula Cemetery.
Saturday, July 27
Monument restoration training session presented by the Preservation Alliance of WV
9:00 to noon, WVNCC Education Center, 10 17th Street, Room 121E
- Certificates will be awarded after completing the course
- Lunch provided
- Hands on work session follows training, noon at Peninsula Cemetery
Sunday, July 28
- Cleaning, repair work session, 10:00 to 3:00, you can come and go as your schedule permits
- Training not required and no experience necessary
- Wear sunscreen and a hat, protective shoes, and bring work gloves and a folding chair; water and lunch provided.
To register for the training and/or the work sessions, please contact Sharon David, sharon@pawv.org
The Ohio County Cemeteries Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in June 2023, is working to restore cemeteries without financial support. In addition to Peninsula our current projects include Mt. Wood and Stone Church Cemeteries.
About Peninsula Cemetery
In 1851 the City of Wheeling purchased 21 acres from Daniel Steenrod to establish a new city burying ground. Interments from existing cemeteries were relocated to the new cemetery. Peninsula Cemetery has over 10,000 graves, of which 300+ veterans’ graves have been identified.
In 1964 the Interstate 70 highway and Wheeling Tunnel project cut through the cemetery and over 2,500 remains were exhumed and re-interred in several area cemeteries.
While the City maintains the cemetery – cutting grass, removing debris and paving roads –
it does not have sufficient staff, equipment or expertise to do restoration work. That’s where the Ohio County Cemeteries Foundation and YOU come in. We need volunteers! Your help will make a difference.
About the Ohio County Cemeteries Foundation, Inc.
The Ohio County Cemeteries Foundation, a 501 c 3 non-profit organization, was established in June 2023 to raise funds for restoration and preservation of cemeteries that lack an active association and board of directors. Thirty-six cemeteries in Ohio County fall into this category, including small family cemeteries on private property. A number of the larger cemeteries are owned by the City of Wheeling or Ohio County, among them Mt. Wood, Peninsula, Stone Church and Roney’s Point. While they are regularly maintained, major work resetting and repairing broken monuments requires raising private support, which is the aim of the Ohio County Cemeteries Foundation.
Your support as a volunteer and/or donor is needed!
Watch for our posts about forthcoming training and work sessions.
Monetary contributions to the Foundation are tax deductible and are welcome in any amount. Donations can be mailed to OCCF, Box 1, 1400 Main Street, Wheeling, WV 26003
