Sometimes you stumble on a particular cemetery and it opens up a new world for you. We know how it feels when you document and tend to graves in a cemetery and feel a sense of responsibility and care for the people buried there. You want to learn more about their lives, more about the history of the community and cemetery and share the information with others.
Cemeteries are fascinating places to roam with much to discover. Thanks to the Find a Grave community, 26,907 cemeteries were added in 2025 – which adds to the total of 611,225 cemeteries added to Find a Grave worldwide. We thought we could explore a few that are off the beaten path and lead to a world of discoveries all their own.
Walhalla Cemetery, located on a steep hillside in the remote mining town of Walhalla, Australia, is terraced with pathways and gravesites formed and supported by stone walls, making room for 1300 burials. The cemetery includes burials of many accidental and early deaths due to the hardship and illnesses that the community endured. Local legend speaks to the grave of James Mitchell, who died in a mine collapse in 1880. The inscription reads,
“Oh let my sudden doom, A warning be to all. Ere whilst thou bendest o’er my tomb, Thou may as quickly fall”
To enter Heath Cemetery in Indiana, you’ll walk through a natural tunnel created by mature trees and shrubs. Your own secret garden cemetery, transporting you to another time.
The first known burial in the cemetery was in 1833. The cemetery was established by Ralph and Mary Heath, who are buried here along with their family and others. A cemetery restoration was completed in 2011 by the Pioneer Cemetery Preservation committee of the Delaware County Historical Society.
This is the view of the Bantay Municipal Cemetery from the historic Bantay Bell Tower in Bantay, Philippines. With the mountains and valley as the backdrop, we were able to match up a current photo with a historical one from the early 1900s. Scroll through the photos and you’ll see the Cemetery Chapel of Bantay, which was originally located on the hill in the cemetery. Some people remember it being there as late as the 1970s. Now, one can only see the remnants of its walls and the site is marked by a tall concrete cross. But, we thought it would be interesting to add the chapel in digitally and get a sense of what it would look like if it were still there today.
It’s easy to get lost in cemeteries, their history and the lives of people buried there.
Speaking of cemeteries, we’ve been working on a new feature and are so excited that we couldn’t wait to tell you about it. Soon you’ll be able to easily suggest updates to cemetery pages with a Cemetery Edits feature. From adding an aka to the cemetery name, updating the GPS location, adding a description and more, the Cemetery Edits feature will make it easy for you to share what you know about a cemetery with the Find a Grave community. You’ll be able to update any cemetery field, add translations and even report a duplicate cemetery for us to review. Wahoo! When it’s ready, you’ll see the ‘Suggest Edits’ button on any cemetery page and we’ll publish an announcement here on the blog.
Let’s wrap up 2025 with some other celebrations!
Here are the 20 countries where the community has done the most work in 2025.
We don’t know how many family mysteries were solved, how many unknown graves were found or how many grateful thank you’s were sent. However, we do have some numbers to share that give a snapshot overview of the Find a Grave community volunteering their time and efforts in 2025.
Here at Find a Grave, we’re honored to host such an incredible and invaluable community on the world’s largest platform for online grave and burial information. Thanks for another fantastic year! Thank you for your commitment to our mission, to the work and to each other. What you’ve created here at Find a Grave is valuable to everyone. Truly, a legacy for generations to enjoy and continue and all because of you.
Love the new idea of being able to edit the cemetery easily. I am sure it will help make cemeteries more accurate. I often think of something to add, but it was too much trouble to send the email. Now I can easily let you know.
It just keeps getting better! Thank you!
I need a Find A Grave volunteer for the Silverdale Cemetery in Silverdale, Kansas. I would like a small artificial stone placed on the unmarked grave of my Uncle Jesse Lee Willis born in 1885 and died 1911. I can send the Stone to you, if you will put it on his grave.
You might want to try reaching out to the cemetery office and see if they can help.
I can help you! Reach out to me through the website privately and I can place the stone for you!
Such a lovely thought. Two of my maternal uncles died as babies and are buried in separate cemeteries in unmarked graves. You have inspired me to give them this honor in the spring when the snow melts. Thank you.
Find A Grave volunteers document memorials and photograph graves. Contacting the cemetery where your uncle is buried would be the best approach as volunteers that is not something that we would be able to do.
I hope I contributed some important updates. I’m still trying to find forgotten entities. I’m 78 and will try to get to as many local cemeteries as I can. :o)
Wow, how wonderful to see the results of all our work. It’s very exciting to see how cemeteries, memorials and families are linked together and remembered. Thanks to Find A Grave and every contribution. Great job!
I’d like to know how many (new Cemetery’s are being made ) as people dying and none new ones seems odd very odd . As the amount of people that die would need more room lot more room . If there’s a serious researcher out there please notify me on your findings of this & interest .
You can search for cemeteries and look at the total number of cemeteries added under the Cemeteries tab. The total is at the top of the search bar. Members add cemeteries from around the globe to Find a Grave everyday.
wondering about the number of gravesites … my uncle and both my parents were cremated and there is no memorial in any cemetery
Hi Steven, here’s a link to support article that explains how to add memorials when they are not buried in a cemetery. You can use the Memorial search on the Find a Grave homepage to search for memorials.
Just so you are aware, your parents and all who have been cremated can still have FindaGrave memorials.
Even if they are cremated, you are allowed to make their memorial, just choose cremation as burial. If you have specifics just make note on their memorial.
Maybe they can have u buy bricks with their names of something?! For a local cemetery? Near-by to where they lived?!
My wife died in 2006 and was cremated. The crematorium has space for plaques
so I had one installed. Here is a link
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/261894685/krystyna-richardson
Many people are now choosing cremation and their ashes are being scattered at sea or in a private location or retained by the loved ones in an urn rather than being buried. So I think the need for new cemeteries will continue to decrease.
… or at least not rise as rapidly as it would have otherwise.
I think a lot of people do the cost, have gone to cremation instead of a cemeteries. Cremated, put in an urn and on the mantel. People need to add them to find a grave so they aren’t lost.
Cremations are very popular now and more affordable. Plus, many people choose to be cremated and want a say in the location where they want their ashes spread.
The amount of cremations has risen substantially and while cemetery space can be landlocked, many cemeteries allow double and sometimes triple interments into the same plot. There are new cemeteries being created but there can be roadblocks, especially in larger cities where real estate space is prime. You will see columbarium’s created in cemeteries for inurnment of cremains, less space required. It’s changing.
In the US cremation is becoming more popular still it seems. CremaIns are often scattered instead of interred and so not as much cemetery space is needed..at least, this sounds reasonable.
Let me share a story what has happened to me.. it’s all about Findagrave and how they bring people together.
A random person from the Czech Republic reached out to me and asked if I was related to a Leo Kirchmeier – and yes, I have a Leo in my family tree; he said a friend of his that goes out to this site with his metal detector and found Leo’s dog tags from WWII..
so he helped his friend and found me through FG; sadly it was not my Leo. So I take it a step further and find the correct Leo & Rita K in Iowa.. we are hoping to find a living relative of his and send them to them.
Now we have this guy in Czech Republic, my Leo Kirchmeier was born in OK, buried in CA, this Leo R Kirchmeier is buried in Iowa and I’m in Texas.
Sorry if this is wordy, but I do believe that FG volunteers live for these kind of stories – Still searching and I hope we can get the tags to their relative, I know I would want my dad’s, grandfathers or even an uncles. We span the globe thanks to Find a Grave.
Make it a great day!
Marsha, if you know the town/city in Iowa where the owner of the dog tags is buried, you can write to the postmaster there and ask if there are any known relatives of that Leo. Or, you can write to the cemetery and ask the same thing. I was able to contact a survivor by writing to the postmaster of a small town several years ago. It’s worth a try! Another way you might find a living relative is by contacting the U.S. Total Army Personnel Command, 2461 Eisenhower Ave., Alexandria, VA 22331-0482. I was able to get their entire file on my deceased uncle who was KIA in the Pacific Theater in Dec. 1944. It has all been declassified, and contained affidavits from crew members in the other planes in the bombing formation. That office might be able to tell you some of Leo’s relatives at the time he was KIA, where they live/lived, etc. Certainly worth a try! Good luck.
When I was searching for family relatives who moved to other states way back when, I looked up the local newspapers for that area and sent a Letter to the Editor and ask if he could please print my letter, and I included what info I had. I also included my e-mail address as well as my home address. The responses were great! I received several e-mails with additional info, PLUS a few people had mailed documents to me that they had gone out of their way to a local library and searched for info for me, and sent me copies. So give it a try!
Hi Marsha,
This is his obituary from 1986—
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sioux-city-journal/189730053/
I tried to screenshot and paste it in here but for some reason it won’t let me.
I looked up Debra/Debbie Kirchmeier on Facebook as the obituary lists her as a daughter in Sioux City, IA. I found her on FB and her married name is Minor. So her name on there is Debbie Kirchmeier Minor and is from Sioux City and currently lives there.
Denise Baldwin Sonnichsen
I just discovered a memorial I believe to be my 1st Cousin, but I cannot prove it yet. If anyone can help me I would greatly appreciate it.
I am researching Tyler originating in Suffolk, England, some in Australia too. Is that of any help?
Hi Londa – what sort of help do you need to confirm? I’ll message you on Find a Grave as well.
I would like to try and help you. Feel free to send me a message with any information you have and like to share.
Angela Haney
I am at Coffs Harbour in New South Wales and here we have some lone graves. There is a family at Emerald Beach and also some anonymous graves at Moonee Beach after a collision between two ships. There is also the Hogbin Drive Crematorium which I listed last year.
Stephen, try adding a memorial and click on Burial Details Unknown. That might possibly locate them if they have ever been entered in Findagrave.
Yes, you can search for memorials like this by opening ‘More search options’ and checking the box ‘not buried in a cemetery.’
I have a question please. Many Cemetery Associations publish a list or book of Memorials usually in pdf format. Is there not a way to post the link to such a document? I know I can upload a picture under of a cemetery but it would help if this information could be posted. 48459943
If the website is an official website for the cemetery, the link can be added to the cemetery page. We encourage members to add the memorials to the cemetery as then the memorials can easily be found in Memorial Search. You can upload a spreadsheet with the information and create memorials. Then headstone photos can be added by other members in the local community. Here’s more information about uploading a spreadsheet.
The Friends of Maple Grove Cemetery in Kew Gardens NY have worked incredible stories with the Find A Grave app and engaged students from the NYC Summer Youth Employment Program and the Work. Learn and Grow program. In fact one team using the app won the prestigious Educational Use of Archives by ART – The Archivist Round Table of Metropolitan New York. https://www.nycarchivists.org/13425020 We have written a number of articles about various projects using the app and think it might be of interest to your readers. Thanks
I would like to personally think everyone who has contributed. I know it takes a lot of time and effort for locating and posting. Again, thank you it is very well appreciated
Great comments and stories, thank you for sharing and thank you to all the contributors!
How do I find my fathers cemetery ??
Start with the information , if any , that you currently have . Talk with any other family/friends who may have info . Do you know where/when he died ? Online/published obituaries may help . Depending on what you already know it may be relatively easy or quite difficult . Best of luck . If you have more questions , just ask .
Check his death certificate. They usually list where buried. Also check obituary notices, which may also list where burial took place
Thanks to all who who has worked in upgrading Find A Grave. Its wonderful especially for a elderly people like me. Can’t drive, no one to take me to cemeteries then when I get there I can’t walk in a cemetery because of bad knees.. I still like doing my research even at the age of 83…. Thanks to all…
Do you still have the Find A Grave store? I bought a hat years ago and still enjoy wearing it.
Nancy Stewart
Yes we do, Nancy. Select ‘Store’ from the bottom of our homepage. We’re glad you like the hat!
I just wanted to say you have the same name of my mom. Same middle iniooktial too. Took my breath away, my mom passed in 2015. It was nice to see her name though.
You guys are great.
It would be helpful if when I ask someone a question, if their reply is attached to the question.
Many peole just assume they are the only person you are asking, and the replies come back with pronouns and I never know what they are talking about. I have to go to my questions and try to figure it out. Thanks for any help in this area. Rose
I would like to find a dated history of accesses to a grave record. When I access the record now, it updates to today’s date, thereby erasing the previous date. Could we get a chronological list of accesses, or at least the date of previous access? Thank you.
Hi Nathan, we’d love to hear more about this, along with an example and any details. Please reach out through website feedback on our Contact us page.
The “Find a Grave” website and the stories are truly fantastic.The fact that cemeteries throughout the world are available for research is unbelievable , in a way.
I travel around the Goldfields of Western Australia every year and I visit cemeteris in very remote locations where the old mining towns no longer exist.
Many graves are un named and overgrown with weeds and bushes.
Very sad.
Luckily there is a volunteer group in WA who visit many of the remote cemeteries and put an engraved marker on such graves, or at the cemetery entrance, to identify those that are there.
To Stephen F Willis, I live in Topeka, KS. In the next several months I plan to go to Tisdale Cemetery just east of Winfield. Silverdale is just south of there about twenty miles. I’m sure there is no cemetery office. Cowley Co may have the cemetery records. I can contact the Co and find out. I have a truck, I’m willing to deliver and place the stone – if I can know where the grave is. Send more info to: duanelherrmann@yahoo.com
I am dismayed to not find Canada listed among the “20 countries where the community has done the most work in 2025”. It’s difficult to comprehend, eh?
Thank you for reaching out about this. You are right, we made a mistake. We sincerely apologize for this error! We’ve corrected the image above.
I have been here for 13 years and placed over 700 flowers, just want to say THANK YOU, I have enjoyed every minute, and we keep up a very old cemetery in Branchville, SC, Byrd Cemetery, just a handful of us, but we get the job done; every stone is shiny white! I am 97, and my name is Colleen Newsome Jolly, thanks for being here! Yes, all of us are volunteers.
Can I add a photo of the Cemetery or Church
Yes, you can add a photo of the cemetery or church. Learn more in our support article about Cemetery Photos.
Jacob Linzie lived most of his life in Attica, Wisconsin but died near Plover, Iowa. Need help in finding his grave.
My brother found an engraved urn left behind in a rental home owned by a church. He tracked the man down through newspaper articles and found that he’d been murdered. He found the crematory that took care of his remains and they agreed to have him buried in a cemetery. I probably should do a memorial for him after I get all the details.
I would like help to find the grave for my great great grandfather, William Galloway who died in 1896 near Foots Bay , Lake Joseph Ontario. I have checked many of the cemeteries in the area but nothing found. He had a homestead near Foots Bay and his death certificate at age 80 was signed by a doctor in Foots Bay. Birth statement on the death record was wrong as he was born in York Ontario in about 1815. A lot of Galloway relatives are buried in Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora, Ont but nothing for William
It is very difficult to make amendments, add other family members, I have tried several times and also sent a query to you, but got no reply.
The site is great, it would be even better if we could fix errors or at least notify someone who can.
Please help.
Hi Don, on any memorial page you can select Suggest Edits, make changes to the fields, and then send those to the manager. Our support team will reach out to you via email to see what you are experiencing and how we can help.
I have found Find a Grave a wonderful website to use for helping other families find their missing loved ones. It’s a wonderful feeling to take a picture for a family member who lives out of town but yearns to have a connection with a family member. Unfortunately, I have a cemetery in my town that does not like the Find a Grave volunteers to come in and help connect family members.
I had a little problem, when the owner of the property around one cemetery (driveway went through his backyard)didn’t want me to park on grass. I’m 79 and can’t walk that far. I haven’t been back since. DK if he owns the cemetery itself, so…
I would love to see an updated “instructional” section addressing things like naming conventions (given name vs. nickname, multiple surnames from multiple marriages), ability to post a DOB that is calculated, etc., as your current selection looks to be from the time Find a Grave was created and not updated. It causes problems with over-zealous profile managers who make up their own rules.
Also, I left a message on your “contact us” site months ago when I could no longer log into my account and never heard back, so why can I no longer log into my account, even though I see it is there when I am messaged by someone, but I can no longer see how many suggestions I have, etc. What do I need to do?
Hi Marjorie, thank you for your feedback. Please explore our support site as we do keep it updated. We checked your account and it looks like you’ve signed in very recently, but please contact us if there is still an issue with your sign in.
I find find Find
a Grave a wonderful resource. But after receiving an email from you about the Walhalla Cemetery in Victoria I was saddened to find that my 2x great grandmother Sarah Dawes1838-1873 wasn’t in the data base. I know for a fact that she was buried there, and was directed there some years ago by the historical society in Walhalla. Apparently because of the restricted site and rocky ground, grave sites were reused. And while there is a headstone for the 2nd person buried there Sarah has sadly no identification.
Wendy Griffin
Hi Wendy, you can add the memorial for your 2nd great grandmother to the Walhalla Cemetery on Find a Grave if her burial is still located in the cemetery. What an interesting history there! We’re glad you enjoy the site.
Many thanks to the Find-a-Grave team and to people like us who contribute. I am
very aware of the increase in cremations and records in Books of Remembrance.
It is nearly 20 years since my wife died and was cremated and her name is in the
B o R. But, several years later I created a memorial plaque which appears in the
grounds of the crem and I believe it gives a rounder picture. See
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/261894685/krystyna-richardson
I did a similar construction for one set of grandparents who died around 1950. It
can be seen here
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/261154435/ada-isabel-gilliland
and
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/261154246/john-edward-gilliland
What about gravesites that get reassigned in some countries ?
Do we know all the people laid to rest in those spots or only the most current? And what about people buried in a grave that does not have a marker are they also listed?
Hi Kathy, members can add these graves to the Find a Grave. Here are some guidelines to go by from our support site.
I’m always on the standby to contribute any new burial information on celebrities and other fairly well known persons that I find and have already made a couple such contributions… Still, my BIGGEST complaint about FindaGrave is the “burial unknown”, etc. notice! I HATE that and would think that by now with all of your experience, resources and available references or books on the locations or disposition of the dead, namely celebrities that you would have a team or somebody there who could update such information? Including searches of public records, inquiries, etc. Like what is the POINT of “FindaGrave” if you are UNABLE to provide closure on such information? You’ll probably give me some weak-kneed boilerplate response, but you should REALLY, REALLY work on this. In the meantime, I’ll continue to contribute whatever information that I can find…
Hi Jim, thanks for your feedback and for your contributions too. The information found on Find a Grave is all contributed by the Find a Grave community. We continue to provide the tools and website for the community to work together toward our mission. Find a Grave is free for all. Burial unknown memorials are a small percentage of memorials on the site. Thanks again for your continued efforts. We’re all here working together, finding information, documenting burials and then sharing the information so it is available for everyone.
A wonderful partner to genealogy. Love photography and keeps us active. Creating missing memorials and adding info with the photos.
I look forward to the ability to update cemetery information directly from the site. This will be very helpful. Looking at the number of photos around the world that helped people find loved ones by fulfilling requests is heart warming. I’m proud to say I assisted with that number. 😁
Thank you for the helpful info relating to FG hints… I have enjoyed helping friends and relatives for several years load obits and pics to their loved ones sites… I have found the county historical museums to be a good source for older obits as well as college alumni departments who archive photos of yearbooks… Thanks again for this valuable way of remembering those who we love and honor..!
My involvement with Find a Grave started out with locating ancestors. I have since graduated to suggesting edits to family members for whom I can verify the correct information. As I became a more proficient Genealogist, I always check the information on Find a Grave to make sure it matches the family records.
It has been my joy to expand my services to include creating Memorials for those with cremations and/or ashes in hand. I have also accepted responsibility for Memorials who’s creators have moved on.
I love the Find a Grave community and at age 64, hope to be of service for many years. Keep up the good work!
Very interesting comments and I would like to suggest another avenue for Find a Grave. For obvious reasons, it currently focuses on individuals or families. But there must be thousands of churches in the UK alone which display lists of those killed in WW1 and WW2. What a resource that would be!