Whiteneck Cemetery

 

Locality: Roanoke County                  Temporal Period:                  Indeterminate

Realty Map:          99.00-2-9/11?                         Cultural Affiliation:              Indeterminate

USGS Map:           Garden City                           Landform:                              Ridge slope

Grid Locus:            H-7                                          Elevation:                              980 feet

UTM Easting:       595820                                    Aspect:                                  Southwest

UTM Northing:    4116090                 

 

Site Dimensions:  33 by  43 feet

 

Survey Description:   This cemetery, located approximately 30 feet north of Bandy Road (Route 669) in southern Roanoke County, was initially surveyed and documented in 1992 by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Roanoke office.  The cemetery was issued archaeological site designation number 44RN280.  A report of the reconnaissance survey indicated that the site consisted of seven graves marked with uninscribed fieldstone markers.  All of the observed graves were oriented to the southeast.  Other graves, unmarked or with fallen markers, may exist.  The site area is covered with deciduous trees and historic plantings were not observed on the site.  The horizontal distribution of grave makers was used to estimate site size.  Because the observed grave markers consisted of uninscribed fieldstone markers, the age, cultural affiliation, or name of the family associated with the cemetery could not be established during the initial survey.

 

The cemetery was field inspected again in January 1998.  Only two uninscribed fieldstone markers were visible and both were enclosed by a white fence that enclosed an area of about six by eight feet.  Although a systematic search of the surrounding ground surface was not completed, other fallen markers were visible just beneath the leaf litter.  Clovis Hartman, a resident of the area who lives within ½ mile of the site, reported the cemetery contained seven graves.  He further reported that a previous resident of the area, Oren Thomas, said that the cemetery was the Whiteneck family cemetery.  Verification of this report will necessitate archival research.  Archival research and archaeological evaluation may be necessary to ascertain the age, cultural affiliation, and precise size of the cemetery.

 

Survey Date:         1/98

 

Field Notes:           _x_Yes   ___No

Photographs:        ___Yes  _x_No

 

References:           Klatka, Thomas

1992        Archaeological Reconnaissance Survey Along Back Creek, Southern Roanoke County, Virginia.  Report on file at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond and Roanoke.

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