Cranberry Township Historical Society

The Cranberry Township Historical Society invites you to hear about the afterlife or at least the interment part on Sunday September 14th at 2:00 pm at the Plains Presbyterian Church off Franklin Road. Our speaker Dr. Thomas Hannon will talk on Geomancy's Rise and Demise: A Sub - Regional Analysis, or in simpler terms Gravestone orientation in colonial and early federal America. Today, death and the handling of the remains means entirely something different than it was in the 19th century. Today, you may be buried in your favorite Steelers coffin or have your ashes spread over your favorite coffee/latté shop but in the 19th century to meet the Creator, one method was most common. Then, the preferred method had you being interred in a church or family cemetery and you would be facing in an easterly direction. One wouldn’t want to face the wrong direction and possibly languish in the netherworlds. Please come join us and learn about graveyards, from the most interesting Dr. Hannon. Please wear comfortable shoes as we will learn first hand in the Plains Church cemetery. The program is free to the public. Directions