Raleigh residents rally to continue cemetery upkeep

Raleigh native Bernard Cooke regularly passes through City Cemetery on East Street and remembers the massive damage it suffered three years ago this month when a tornado ripped through Raleigh.

Residents and officials in Raleigh are trying to salvage the city landmark to preserve a piece of history.

"Good God, it was terrible," he said. 

Federal funds helped pay to clean up the nearly 200-year-old cemetery, which had crumbling head stones and remains strewn about from the tornado, but Raleigh park superintendent Wayne Schindler said the historic site still requires maintenance.

"A lot of the stones have deteriorated, and they're in need of repair," he said. "And unfortunately, we've had vandalism over the years that has contributed to damage of headstones and monuments."

Schindler said more money would help, but he wants to see more local volunteers and a community-watch style program to act as sentry.

"The more eyes we have on our historic cemeteries, the better we will be able to protect the valuable resources they are," he said. 

Cooke agrees and said more help would be great for the community.