GPR Cemetery Mapping Services in Texas for Unmarked Plots

Older cemeteries across the country are facing a crisis of sorts. Some have been lost altogether due to missing or destroyed public records, while others have inadequate grave markers after centuries of weathering and vandalism. This puts cemetery landowners in the difficult spot of not knowing which plots are vacant and available to future sales and revenue.

WOOD Inspection can help with GPR mapping services for cemeteries. Our family owned and operated company starts with an onsite visit and comprehensive sweep of your cemetery. Then we digitize all of our findings and upload into ESRI, GIS mapping software and Google Earth. You will receive access to a website portal where you can view data and open plots in real time. 

If you delay updating your cemetery burial plot maps, you could run into a great deal of trouble down the line. For example, a few years ago a family purchased plots next to their deceased infant. The cemetery had already sold those plots to another family, but the records had not been updated. The situation led to a great amount of distress for everyone involved.

How Do We Find Hidden Graves for You?

We employ advanced techniques to locate hidden graves within cemeteries. Our skilled technicians use a combination of ground penetrating radar (GPR) and other specialized tools to ensure thorough and accurate grave detection. Through our meticulous process, we are able to provide comprehensive cemetery mapping services that unveil unmarked graves and preserve burial records.

How Does Ground Penetrating Radar Detect Graves? 

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a non-invasive technology that uses electromagnetic waves to penetrate the ground and detect buried objects. When GPR waves encounter variations in soil density caused by buried objects, such as graves, they reflect back to the surface. The GPR system captures these reflections, allowing us to analyze the data and identify potential grave locations. By interpreting the GPR data, our experts can accurately map out grave sites and assist in preserving the historical significance of cemeteries.

Comprehensive Gravesite Survey & Inspection

Marked Grave Locations for Cemetery

• Unmarked Grave Location
  WOOD Inspection starts with 2D underground scans identifying voids as unmarked graves. Next, our team places permanent metal markers which can withstand mowing and overgrowth. The unmarked graves can be easily located later with a Metal Detector.
• Unmarked Gravesite Mapping
  Our team can provide GPS Coordinates for each unmarked grave to be entered into a cemetery mapping system such as “Simms” or it can be viewed in Google Earth. This allows for an easy update of your gravesite locations and inventory.
• Cemetery Inventory
  We provide GPS coordinates and photographs for every headstone within your cemetery and include coordinates for any unmarked graves. This is useful for updating or confirming existing records and the ability to use new inventory record software.
• Headstone Transcription
  Headstone photography assists in our ability to transcribe and provide a full inventory of your cemetery. Headstone information can be easily uploaded into a Cemetery Mapping System or Online service such as “Find a Grave” or “Billion Graves”.
• Cemetery GPR Scans and Mapping
  We can take an aerial image of your cemetery via drone for use in mapping software. We can also create grids and process GPR scans into a 3D map of the cemetery. The average cemetery mapping project unveils 50+ unmarked graves.

How to Map a Cemetery with GPR

How to Map a Cemetery with GPR

First, we provide GPS coordinates and photographs for every headstone within your cemetery and include coordinates for any unmarked graves. This is useful for updating or confirming existing records and the ability to use new inventory record software. The headstone information we provide can be easily transcribed into a cemetery digital mapping system or online service such as Find a Grave or Billion Graves.

Then we can take an aerial image of your cemetery via drone for use in mapping software. We can also create grids and process GPR (ground-penetrating radar) scans into a 3D map of the cemetery. GPR helps us see what’s underneath the ground, such as pockets that indicate burial sites, all without disturbing the ground itself.

The average cemetery mapping project unveils more than 50 unmarked graves. Research has shown that the spatial data from GPR readings could produce maps with “very high locational accuracy.”

Inaccurate inventory is often the biggest issue with cemetery maps, and cross-referencing GPS coordinates with GPR data helps eliminate human error and create an accurate map of your cemetery. For example, after GPR mapping one cemetery director was able to identify gaps between platted graves that could be used for cremation graves and serve as new revenue for the cemetery.

In the end, you’ll have interactive mapping tools that you can use to manage your plot inventory and guide visitors when they need directions.

A Cemetery Mapping Case Study

Elizabeth Cemetery in Roanoke, Texas

A Cemetery Mapping Case Study

In 2007, WOOD Inspection Services deployed our GPR technology prior to breaking ground for a large shopping center in Denton County, Texas. The discovery of old grave sites saved the developers from a lengthy legal battle. It also provided some positive publicity for the project and the developer’s reputation.

Developers used our GPR services to scan the ground outside a fence that bordered the cemetery and was to be part of the grounds of the new development. GPR revealed that objects below the fence were of the proper size and form of graves. The results were unsettling, and some believed inconclusive as to finding real unmarked graves.

Still, the findings made developers and the community create a different action plan for the development and for the cemetery. The cemetery is cared for by the Argyle Cemetery Association. Records indicate that the first person buried there was an infant who died in the 1860s.

Most of Argyle’s citizens settled here after the Civil War and were also buried in the cemetery. Besides being cared for by local citizens, the cemetery has a place in the Texas Historical Commission, which acknowledges the volunteers from the association for having maintained its sanctity and history for nearly 40 years.

Imagine the problems that would have arisen if an infant’s grave had been discovered while digging began in the first phases of a shopping center’s development. All of this was avoided because of our GPR technology and expert services.

Recent Gravesite & Cemetery Projects

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A Complete Line of GPR Inspection and Locating Services

Many people are sensitive to the issue of building on or near cemeteries due to religious or spiritual beliefs. Keep your firm from having its reputation damaged by investigating fully with the help of our accurate GPR readings prior to starting any project near a cemetery. Existing cemeteries will find that our GPR services can assist them in finding older, unmarked graves and help them update their maps. Our GPR services help with more than cemetery mapping. We can utilize our state-of-the-art GPR and infrared thermal equipment expertly to perform the assessment of archaeological sites. We also conduct commercial inspections, locate below-ground utility infrastructures and much more. Contact us today for an assessment of your situation and we will get you on your way to obtaining the precise results you need.