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project abstract The 5th Street Cemetery Necrogeographical Study is a GIS-based project that marries current GIS, GPS and surveying technologies with traditional historical research and fieldwork. Begun in October 2001, the project has focused on two (2) cemeteries located inside the limits of Lewiston, Idaho, a city of 31,000. Normal Hill Cemetery, the present graveyard, was founded in 1888. The 5th Street site was first used as early as 1862 and continued in use until closed to further burials in December 1888. Today, the 5th Street site is known as Pioneer Park, the entrance to which is shown below.
The purpose of the project was initially to introduce selected junior high school students to the use of global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information systems (GIS) management to plot and analyze patterns at the Normal Hill site. A consequence of the students’ findings in the initial phase of the project findings required extensive investigations that grew out of a further need to answer important questions. Research has since shifted to the site of the original city cemetery, where many graves are suspected to still exist. The project was originally centered at Jenifer Junior High School. In September 2004, the project moved its operations to Lewiston High School as the students matriculate. Participating students act as technology assistants and have been trained in the use of ArcView 3.2 and the global positioning system. In the fall of 2004, all research assistants trained with ArcGIS 9. |
