WHEELING, W.Va. — Days of rain are the suspected cause of a mudslide at the historic Mt. Zion Cemetery in Wheeling.
The slide has damaged more than 150 gravestones.
Steve Novotney, of Wheeling-based Lede News, has been monitoring the situation since it happened and said the shocking scenes from the cemetery are bringing the community together.
“It came down at a pretty good pace when it all first started, and it just kind of stopped as the cemetery leveled off before a small stream, Caldwell Run,” Novotney said.
The cemetery was established in the late 1860s and has approximately 400 veterans buried there including veterans of the Civil War and Spanish-American War.
“They’re assessing it, they’re looking at the engineering and coming up with the to-do list,” Novotney said. “Of course, number one is that it’s got to stop raining, it’s got to stop snowing, and the mud has to stop sliding.”
Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, has been monitoring the situation and working with the office of U.S. Senator Joe Manchin.
Fluharty met with the senator last Thursday in Wheeling, and the two are working with other agencies to find funding to begin the clean-up. Options could develop due to the number of veterans buried there, the age and historical significance of the cemetery, and its’ current status as an “orphan cemetery.”
“We are currently going through every scenario possible, getting all the facts available to us, and more importantly, trying to get as many resources as possible so we can restore it in short order,” Fluharty said.
The cemetery has been maintained since 2015 by the Mt. Zion Cemetery Corporation, a non-profit led by President Charles Yocke and Secretary/Treasurer Paula Stein. Those two have a cadre of different volunteers and businesses that are prepared to help make repairs.
“Everybody with the Mt. Zion Cemetery is just going to have to wait, first for everything to dry, and then the funding will hopefully start flowing in from state and local contributors and also from some private contributors,” Novotney said.
Getting volunteers has been difficult in recent years, but this event and the graphic images of the tragedy are reigniting community interest in helping the Mt. Zion Cemetery Corporation.
“Now, everybody is finding out yet again that these two people have been alone since 2016, and I think they’re going to get a lot of help from people in that area,” Novotney said.