Gifford's Grave Restoration

Peter Jung reports good progress on the restoration of Sanford Gifford's grave. Jung speculates that "if the weather doesn't get too fierce, there's a good chance that all the stones will be set before winter sets in." The "final cosmetics," he says, will be finished up in the spring.

Mention of the cemetery and the efforts to restore parts of it prompt the reminder that in 1983 Hudson's cemetery was deemed eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. The City of Hudson, with the Historic Preservation Commission taking the initiative, should pursue this status for our historic cemetery, which, in the words of William Krattinger, Historic Preservation Specialist with the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, contains "a noteworthy collection of funerary art, ranging from typically late 18th century stones executed by a master carver--and embellished with winged effigies and other typical design vocabulary--to tombs, such as the Egyptian Revival-style tomb which is an outstanding reflection of American romanticism in the antebellum period and the interest in that period of utilizing Egyptian design motives in cemetery design."