Barber Cemetery
A beautiful, peaceful cemetery lies near Conneaut Lake town at the end of South 1st Street just over the borough line into Sadsbury Township. Founded in 1836, it is a sad result of the prosperous canal era. With the raising of the level of the lake to provide water for the Erie Extension Canal, the flooded lands caused a malaria like epidemic. The cemetery records shows 89 people buried there, many of them children and young adults.
Our exhibit at the museum is small in nature, consists of a grave marker turned into the Conneaut Lake Police after it was found on a street in town, maps and photos of grave markers, work crews cleaning, repairing and replacing tombstones, landscaping and cleanup work, bridge building and flower planting. The real exhibit is the cemetery itself.
We encourage visitors to experience the calm and reverent feeling one gets upon walking across the bridge over Barber Run, and up the rise to the cemetery, sheltered by old growth trees.
Read the marker erected by the Historical Society with every person’s name and dates of birth and death carved.
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See the markers of the many children and young men and women who succumbed to the illness caused by the flooded land. See also, the several soldiers who fought in the War of 1812.
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The Historical Society is grateful for the opportunity to be to be the caretaker for this peaceful resting place, with much help from the community. You can visit this off site branch of our museum by traveling south on 1st Street, turn left on Richmond St and follow the signs.
In addition to the items in the exhibit, we have much more information related to the Barber Cemetery in our archives.