We typically think of stone, brick, and cement as being strong, solid, and impervious, right? Not entirely. Both natural stone like marble, granite, and limestone and manufactured building materials like cinder blocks and concrete are porous. This means that these…
As the weather begins to cool off this Fall, the Preservation, Restoration, and Operations (PRO) team is transitioning to a different season of preservation work. During extreme weather, either very hot or very cold, we abstain from using mortars. That…
2021 is really flying by for Historic Oakland Foundation's preservation, restoration, and operations (PRO) team. This year we’ve been busier than ever thanks to ongoing work taking place on East Hill. In late 2019 we began restoring 7.5 acres on…
The current restoration of East Hill is one of the largest undertakings in Historic Oakland Foundation's forty-five years. While most of the work is similar to what we have done in sections like Jewish Hill and the Original Six Acres,…
Oakland Cemetery is known for its beautiful and elaborate granite and marble monuments. They stand out against the landscape as grand tributes to the dead. But not all headstones at Oakland are made from natural stone. Some are composed of…
In the heart of Buckhead lies a piece of history that most residents of this affluent community know nothing about. Mt. Olive Cemetery, located off Pharr Road, is a tiny cemetery on a shrubby hill adjacent to Frankie Allen Park.…
This blog post was written by Ashley Shares, HOF director of preservation and Liz Clappin, host of the weekly podcast, "Tomb with a View." The last time you took a tour of a cemetery, did you learn about the famous…
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us all to deviate from normal operating procedures, sometimes very drastically. Historic Oakland Foundation (HOF) is no exception. Overnight, our administrative, education, and programming staff went from sharing ideas, coffee, bad jokes, desks, and even…
Despite a soggy February the PRO team at Oakland Cemetery has hit the ground running in 2020. Late last year we embarked on a four-year endeavor to restore 7.5 acres on the east side of the cemetery, an area referred…