WPA Cemetery Plans Online!

As Memorial Day approaches, visions of cemeteries dance through our heads (or at least in mine, as I find more ancestors to bring flowers to…). Many Maine cemeteries have plans originally created courtesy of the Works Progress Administration, which reside at the Maine State Archives. Thanks to that staff and the folks who work on Digital Maine, all 543 of those images may be seen at the touch of a button or two! Log onto the State Library’s website, www.maine.gov/msl and click on the Digital Maine Library link, or plug www.digitalmaine.com in your address box. Now you can enter “WPA Cemetery Plans” in the search box, and even add a place name after. Click on the download option, and there you have it! These plans are great for locating veterans; some graves are coded by the war of service. With such an item in hand one could also visit the appropriate town clerk and locate a civilian’s burial as well, I should think. Check it out, and feel free to share your cemetery find with us!

Emily Schroeder

About Emily Schroeder

Greetings to everyone who’s into genealogy! I’m Emily Schroeder, and I’ve been at Maine State Library since 1980. I just retired this year. My latest incarnation transformed me into the genealogy specialist. I got to visit other libraries and do genealogy workshops, have classes onsite, teach adult ed., write newsletters, join genealogy groups, and generally try to keep myself “in the know”. I’m hoping that through this blog we can share ideas, review resources and databases, and maybe introduce something new to readers in the genealogy field. You can always e-mail me at: buffywg@yahoo.com.