Many of the earlier graveyards in Berrien County have headstones that are hard to read as well as some that have been broken, because of natural elements or vandalism. We have about 25 abandoned cemeteries in the county. A municipality, church or a cemetery organization owns the rest of them.               

Members of the Berrien County Genealogical Society are working on a countywide cleanup of the cemeteries. In doing so we welcome any assistance that volunteers would like to give. One very important factor that we should all remember is to receive permission to enter the grounds of a cemetery, as well as obtaining permission to clean and repair headstones.

Much research by experts has gone into both cleaning and repairing these precious pieces of our history. And we have found many different products will eventually damage the headstone. There is also some controversy over weather or not lichen actually protects the headstone. The BCGS welcomes any questions you might have about the proper way to clean and repair headstones. You may contact us via e-mail to info@bcgensoc.com

Other information is available  at:

Indiana Pioneer Cemeteries Restoration Project web pages teach about proper gravestone cleaning and some cemetery do's and don'ts. http://www.rootsweb.com/~inpcrp/pcrpstepbystep.html