Vernacular Memorials of Delaware County - A Virginia Ball Center Seminar

In Loving Memory A Study of Vernacular Memorials in Delaware County
About our Project	About the Book	About the Map
If you drive down any street, major or minor, in Delaware County, there is a fair chance that, eventually, you would stumble across a roadside cross dedicated to the tragic loss of life. These places, sacred spots in secular ground, many times mark someone's last moment of life, and stand as reminders of the danger that may befall us at any moment, perhaps when we least expect it. One of the major components of our project was compiling these roadside crosses into an interactive Google Earth map that marks each memorial on the map with a tack and includes a photo and short caption for each memorial. As of December 2011, our team located forty-seven roaside memorials in the Delaware County area, not including the types of memorials that could not be mapped, including car decals, tattoos, and performative memorials. Also included on the map are the locations of the cemeteries in Delaware County, listed along with their name. Before we could construct the map, we had to deconstruct it. The map team divided the county into fifteen sections and sent out groups of two people with a camera and a GPS coordinator to locate memorials in each section. The task was to record a photo of the memorial and its GPS coordinates, both of which would later be used in the building of the interactive map. The work was sometimes dangerous--many memorials we located are found along busy roads, where speed limits exceed 55mph--and required individuals to tread carefully. But the consensus is that this portion of the seminar was one of the greatest team-building exercises undertaken, and after several weeks all pieces of the map had been well-traveled. The map link below will allow you to download the .KMZ file that can be opened in Google Earth. This will mark, with white thumbtacks, the location of every memorial we were able to locate during the seminar. It is likely that, during our hunt, we may have missed some memorials, or new memorials have been created since the construction of this map. However, the map is as accurate as we could make it as of 12/7/2011. We understand that there will be some temptation to travel to these memorials and to visit them for yourself. If you choose to do so, we encourage you to take caution, especially when visiting those memorials located along the major roadways of the county. Never travel to these memorials alone, and always park somewhere safe in order to prevent injury to yourself and others. If possible, do not loiter at these memorials, and be aware of your surroundings at all times. Remember: you do not want to be the next roadside cross that they place along the road. Stay safe. We also ask that, should you choose to visit one of these memorials, you treat it with the same respect as you would a headstone in a graveyard. While there may not be a body beneath your feet, the memorial marks a sacred place for those who lost their loved ones at these sites. In some cases, these memorials have also been hand-made, and are irreplacable as a result. Please be respectful of these spaces. To download the KMZ file: Right-click the following ZIP file and save it to your computer. Once the file has downloaded, unzip the ZIP file; you will now have the KMZ containing all the memorials. Open this file in Google Earth to view all memorials. Download link for the ZIP file: Vernacular Memorials Google Earth File (Updated 6 December 2011)
© 2011. Courtesy of Ball State University and the Virginia Ball Center.

In Loving Memory

A Study of Vernacular Memorials in Delaware County

If you drive down any street, major or minor, in Delaware County, there is a fair chance that, eventually, you would stumble across a roadside cross dedicated to the tragic loss of life. These places, sacred spots in secular ground, many times mark someone's last moment of life, and stand as reminders of the danger that may befall us at any moment, perhaps when we least expect it. One of the major components of our project was compiling these roadside crosses into an interactive Google Earth map that marks each memorial on the map with a tack and includes a photo and short caption for each memorial. As of December 2011, our team located forty-seven roaside memorials in the Delaware County area, not including the types of memorials that could not be mapped, including car decals, tattoos, and performative memorials. Also included on the map are the locations of the cemeteries in Delaware County, listed along with their name.

Before we could construct the map, we had to deconstruct it. The map team divided the county into fifteen sections and sent out groups of two people with a camera and a GPS coordinator to locate memorials in each section. The task was to record a photo of the memorial and its GPS coordinates, both of which would later be used in the building of the interactive map. The work was sometimes dangerous--many memorials we located are found along busy roads, where speed limits exceed 55mph--and required individuals to tread carefully. But the consensus is that this portion of the seminar was one of the greatest team-building exercises undertaken, and after several weeks all pieces of the map had been well-traveled.

The map link below will allow you to download the .KMZ file that can be opened in Google Earth. This will mark, with white thumbtacks, the location of every memorial we were able to locate during the seminar. It is likely that, during our hunt, we may have missed some memorials, or new memorials have been created since the construction of this map. However, the map is as accurate as we could make it as of 12/7/2011.

We understand that there will be some temptation to travel to these memorials and to visit them for yourself. If you choose to do so, we encourage you to take caution, especially when visiting those memorials located along the major roadways of the county. Never travel to these memorials alone, and always park somewhere safe in order to prevent injury to yourself and others. If possible, do not loiter at these memorials, and be aware of your surroundings at all times. Remember: you do not want to be the next roadside cross that they place along the road. Stay safe.

We also ask that, should you choose to visit one of these memorials, you treat it with the same respect as you would a headstone in a graveyard. While there may not be a body beneath your feet, the memorial marks a sacred place for those who lost their loved ones at these sites. In some cases, these memorials have also been hand-made, and are irreplacable as a result. Please be respectful of these spaces.

To download the KMZ file: Right-click the following ZIP file and save it to your computer. Once the file has downloaded, unzip the ZIP file; you will now have the KMZ containing all the memorials. Open this file in Google Earth to view all memorials. Download link for the ZIP file: Vernacular Memorials Google Earth File (Updated 6 December 2011)