Volunteers at Concordia Cemetery use technology to unearth Buffalo history

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Every stone has a story to tell and that’s the case at Concordia Cemetery, one of the oldest cemeteries in Western New York. Volunteers at the cemetery are uncovering the history of Buffalo one stone at a time.

“We’re going to be looking for and bringing up some of the tombstones that have sunk or have been buried,” said Bonnie Fleischauer, Concordia Cemetery’s public information officer. “So, we’re going to unearth them, we’re going to clean them up, photograph them and catalog them.”

The 15-acre cemetery was founded in 1859 by three German churches on the east side of Buffalo. It was abandoned in 2001 and desperately needed upkeep.

Two years later, volunteers bonded together to take care of our neighbors of the past. The grounds hold more than 2,100 tombs and the location of some of the gravesites remains a mystery.

“Being in a cemetery like this is just so exciting because these were the people that made up Buffalo,” said volunteer Chris Cavarello. “They were Buffalo community members from 100 years ago, 150 years ago.”

Volunteers are using a couple techniques to find sunken tombstones. One technique uses ground penetrating radar to pick up irregularities in the layers of the ground below. Another technique uses dowsing rods that move freely on their own.

When you walk over a grave, the rods cross, then they uncross once you’ve moved past. The rods can also help determine the age or sex of the person buried there. Using this technology, volunteers have discovered some tombstones from the 1800s.

“It feels great because you’re finding something that’s been gone,” said ground penetrating radar specialist Don Portik. “People assume now they’ll never see it again. If we could bring it back up now, families can reunite with their families.”

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