Cemetery Project Outline

Cemetery Mapping Project Update

Project Outline and Outcomes

The end result or goal for this project is to create and compile a database of cemetery and burial information in a user friendly and searchable online public application for all 273 cemeteries in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. These applications will be an asset for the community, providing accessible info for families searching for their loved ones in cemeteries, as well as for local historians and genealogists. This app and database will also provide local veterans organizations, such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and American Legion, with a map of all veterans buried in the county and which conflicts they served in to assist the organizations in placing flags on all these graves for Memorial Day.

Work Completed To Date

The project has had a slow start so far and has been an ongoing work in progress since the spring semester of 2015, with the majority of work completed thus far being completed over the summer of 2015.

Over the summer of 2015, with the help of Andy Shears, we developed and tested a database of what data needed to be collected on site in the field. With his help we also developed a methodology and created a manual that outlines step be step how to set up and produce a cemetery app from start to finished, published web app.

I also created some GIS layers of the cemetery locations in the county and outlined their known boundaries. This information was then taken and used to create an online web app showing the locations of all 273 cemeteries in Tioga County, PA.

I also created and took the Cleveland Cemetery the entire way through the process to verify and confirm the methodologies and manual we created would work and be able to be replicated.

The second major project that was completed over the summer was making a map to show all the locations of Cemetery Locations in Tioga County, PA. This web app shows the locations of each cemetery as well as their boundaries when zoomed to each location.

What’s Next

Moving forward in the project, the main goal will to be train others to work on and eventually take over the project. This will mean ensuring that the participants in the project are trained in how to use ArcGIS software to set up the cemeteries for publishing on line through ESRI’s ArcGIS Online and Collector Apps for field use. Participants in the project will need training to use the UAVs as well as the Collector app in order to collect field data. Participants will also need to be trained in how to do post collection processing and publication of interactive web applications such as the ones provided below.

Once the training has been completed the next step will be to organize and send individuals or teams out to collect the field data and start mapping the cemeteries across the county.