Press release from Mary Jo Padget:
(HENDERSONVILLE, NC, July 23, 2017) — A guided walk in Historic Oakdale Cemetery will be on Sunday, August 6, at 2:15 p.m. Participants will gather at the octagonal building in the Cemetery, located on U.S. 64 West at Valley St., about one-half mile from downtown Hendersonville. Cost is $10 per person 10 years and older. Children under 10 are free with a paid adult.
“The most famous grave marker in Oakdale is the large Italian marble angel which inspired Thomas Wolfe’s book Look Homeward, Angel,” tour leader Mary Jo Padgett said. “She has recently been freshened up and repaired, and we’ll learn more about her. Some of our most interesting historic figures of various races and ethnic backgrounds lie in rest at Oakdale, with markers and monuments that tell stories and whisper secrets … so we’ll take some time to explore Hendersonville’s buried past. ”
Oakdale Cemetery’s establishment coincided with one of Hendersonville’s most prosperous periods between 1879 and the early twentieth century, when the Spartanburg and Asheville Railroad reached Hendersonville from the east, and then connected Hendersonville to Asheville in 1886. In December 1885, the City of Hendersonville purchased 5.5 acres and physically established the cemetery at its present location. The cemetery now encompasses 22 acres with more than 8,000 burials.
Private tours for groups of eight or more can be arranged throughout the summer and fall, both for a Guided Walk in Oakdale Cemetery and for Padgett’s Guided Walks on Main Street.
Padgett served on Hendersonville City Council for eight years, is a journalist and public relations consultant, co-founder and former executive director of ECO, was associate editor at The Mother Earth News magazine, and conducts programs and guided tours in Paris, France, on the American Revolution. Her parents spent their honeymoon in the Skyland Hotel on Main Street. She grew up on a farm in Rutherford County, and has lived in a 100-year-old house in downtown Hendersonville for 34 years.
To make reservations or for more information, phone Padgett at 828-545-3179 or email maryjo@maryjopadgett.com. Visit maryjopadgett.com and click on Guided Walks for a complete schedule.
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