Fair Ridge Cemetery

Fair Ridge Cemetery was founded in 1867 when a group of prominent town citizens met to establish "an association to procure and hold land to be used exclusively for a cemetery or place for the burial of the dead." Jesse Haight Underhill (1812 1896) sold the original 12-acre site to the association and became one of its first trustees. The Fair Ridge Cemetery is known for its unplanned nature due to the earlier graveyards that were not planned but simply grew. The graves tended to be laid out plainly in rows and oriented so that on the Day of Judgment, the deceased would rise to face the east. During the 19th century, these expedient arrangements supplanted by "rural" or "garden" cemeteries laid out like parks. The monuments were given more space and oriented for curving paths and carriageways.