Paul Anderson of the Northport American Legion has undertaken to clean the many veteran government headstones in the Forest Home Cemetery, the Historical society has offered to help in any way that they can. The Spring of 2010 Paul and myself paid a visit to the site to evaluate as much as two novices could. Above you will find five thumbnail photo's that are a sample of the stones needing help
We turned to Washington State Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation for advice on cleaning headstones, in turn we were directed to recommended web page for cleaning information
Oct 2010 Paul and I returned to the cemetery armed with recommended supplies and a little knowledge
gleamed from the above website.
Our plan was to clean two stones using our new skills? The two stones to become a template for
several two person crews in the spring of 2011.
The cleaning process went well, one importunate lesson was the different colors of the growth
Redish Brown cleans fairly easy
Black growth that looks like tiny leaves cleans easy
Black growth that is flat and fairly smooth is tough to clean "lots of elbow grease" Small black spots that resist a stiff brush will sucumb to scraping with a thumb nail"
Below are four photo's Before and After
