Bowling Green Pioneer Cemetery

Image of Haynes' book I figured in this research, there would be people at the First Presbyterian Church of Bowling Green who knew more about the place, and I was absolutely correct. To review, the church originally owned and had a church located in cemetery. I went Sunday and made the acquaintance of several very kind and helpful people there, including Mr. Tom Moody, who spoke to me at length about the history of the cemetery and the church. I was also gifted a copy of a book written by a member of the church just recently in celebration of it's 200th year, "In the Beginning: An Early History of the Presbyterian Church of Bowling Green, Kentucky, 1819-1837" by Robert V. Haynes. I've only begun to read it, but it's very promising already. I recorded what Moody had to say, and will have a separate post going over just his information. He is also the organ player for the church, which isn't relevant, but very cool and I got to hear him play during...

I've made a little timeline based on information from the City of Bowling Green site and the Presbyterian Church of Bowling Green site . The first burial Two lots were purchased in 1811, according to the city site. They believe the first burial was in the same year. Another two lots were purchased in 1829. First Presbyterian established The city site states the church in the graveyard was erected in 1819. The website for the First Presbyterian Church of Bowling Green reads: "[Reverend Joseph] Lapsley gathered the local Presbyterians (many of whom were relatives and friends from Rockbridge County, Virginia) and soon built a church in the public burying ground. Lapsley also taught school there but unfortunately lived only four years after the founding." However, it continues on to say, "Session records of the early years are sparse, giving no hint of how the church came to be in the cemetery and no indication of what happened to it. By the time the con...

This blog is in no way officially put forth by the Bowling Green Pioneer Cemetery or by The City of Bowling Green. I'm just here to cleanly document information about the cemetery. A fan page, if you will. The cemetery is under the ownership of the city of Bowling Green, through Fairview Cemetery as I understand it. It was originally owned by the First Presbyterian Church of Bowling Green. The official municipalities page for the Cemetery can be found  here . In case you need to contact them, they're fairly responsive. I called once about a downed headstone and noticed it was repaired the next time I was through. If I remember correctly, I was connected through to someone from the municipalities number given, (270) 393-3607. This will likely be edited later once it's business hours to confirm the best number. This article was updated for accuracy on 3/5/19.