MerrittMem
MERRITT MEMORIAL GARDENS
Washington Township, Hendricks County, IN
SW Corner of the SE ¼ of Sec 3, T16N R1E
Visited June 15, 2005

Directions:
This memorial area is behind the Avon Town Hall, which is on the north side of US 36, west of the intersection with SR 267. It is on a hill to the east of the parking lot, directly behind the North Lawn Cemetery.

Corners:
NW: N39°45.813’ W86°24.409’
SE: N39°45.809’ W86°24.402’

Approximate Center:
N39°45.811’ W86°24.405’ or
N394549 W862424

Condition:
This memorial contains some of the stones from the Merritt Cemetery , but no graves.  At the original cemetery, vandals toppled most of the gravestones down a hill.  The landowner brought some of the remaining stones into his barn and stored them. The stones were moved, repaired and set in a landscaped memorial by Andrew Prescott, Eagle Scout of BSA Troop 307.  There are nine headstones and four footstones.  There are some minor problems, such as messy break repair, questionable cleaning methods, and the setting of footstones as if they were separate headstones. The main problem is the ethics of removing grave markers from a cemetery without removing the graves or at least documenting their location.  This is a serious issue that has resulted in essentially losing the cemetery and the people buried there.  It could also result in the site being developed because no visible signs remain to identify the graves.  It is amazing that no one alerted authorities that further vandalism was being committed due to the gravestones being removed from their original site.
All known burials have been linked to Find-A-Grave with biographies and headstone photos.

 1992              Memorial     
                                              Stones Stacked in Barn in 1992                                               Memorial Gardens

   Break                 Break and Metal
                                                                                Messy Break Repair               Messy Break Repair with Metal Bracing

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