Elkhorn Cemetery (Part 1)

This spring on our annual camping trip to Pipestone, we talked about making a side trip to Elkhorn. But alas, it did not happen, so when Dan suggested it for this weekend, I was all for the idea. 

Friday afternoon found us wandering around the semi-ghost town. We found picturesque relics even before reaching the town itself, and the bees and butterflies also kept us entertained as they worked their way from thistle to thistle. 

Eventually, we arrived in the city proper.  While most of the properties are privately owned, two of the buildings - Gillian Hall and Fraternity Hall - are open

to the public. Some of the other historic buildings are easy to photograph from the street, and the few property owners that we did encounter where gracious enough to allow us to take a few shots on their places as well.

After exploring the town, we bounced our way up the rough road that lead to the cemetery. There was no one else around, and we enjoyed the peace and quiet as we stopped at each grave marker. Death is truly no respecter of persons... we saw many tombstones for babies and children (mostly victims of a diphtheria epidemic in 1888-91) as well as those of people who lived a long time. The tombstones varied from plain wooden planks to intricately carved monuments. The dates ranged from the late 1800's up to as recent as 2015. 

As so frequently seems to happen, our time and daylight ran short before we were really ready to leave, but at least I can finally cross Elkhorn off of my ghost town "to do" list.