By Pat Atchison

A number of words are used to name these items; headstones, tombstones, and/or gravestones. No matter what they are called, they are usually the most eye-catching structures in a cemetery.

A number of different kinds of rocks were used to make the headstones in Citizens Cemetery. There are many fine examples made from granite which was quarried locally. The military stones and many others are cut marble. Various types of local sedimentary rocks were used to mark other gravesites. Gravel mixed with cement was used to make concrete markers (which primarily compose the Potters Field.) These examples make it quite clear why the words headstone, tombstone and gravestone are used.

In early cemeteries in the West, graves were often marked with a piece of wood. There are several remnants and one complete board left as reminders of all of those which were once present in Citizens Cemetery. The words headstone, tombstone and/or gravestone just don't seem an appropriate name for these structures. Perhaps "headboard" would be better.

Forty nine other markers dot the landscape of the cemetery. They are not made of stone or wood. Some are tall while others are very low. All are blue- gray in color. When you knock on them, they sound hollow. They are metal; "White Bronze" or zinc to be exact. 

In the mid 1870s, the Monumental Bronze Company, a foundry in Bridgeport, Connecticut, began experimenting with metals looking for a way to create metal markers which would not allow lichen and mosses to grow on them (as they do on granite) nor erode as often happens to marble. The foundry was also interested in finding a metal and method which would allow designs that would attract people of the Victorian era. 

By the end of the decade, the company had refined a formula for making marketable memorials from zinc. Separate pieces were cast in sand. Then they were then clamped together and fused by pouring boiling zinc along the joints. In order to give the monument the texture of granite, it was sandblasted. It was then brushed with a chemical which immediately produced the blue-gray color. 

The markers were made in Connecticut and by subsidiaries in several other cities on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Salesmen using catalogs showed customers the variety of monuments which were available. These models varied greatly in size, style and decorations. The salesman working in Prescott must have been very talented in his sales ability. The Pioneer Cemetery in Phoenix contains only one of these monuments. Citizens Cemetery has 49 and there are also many in the Odd Fellows and Masonic cemeteries. 

Panels were available to buyers. These panels could be decorated with a wide variety of designs including various flowers, anchors, crosses, etc. They also held the information concerning the person commemorated. Once ordered, these panels were attached to the selected monument by screws with ornamental heads. Unfortunately, vandals discovered how to remove the screws. After doing this, the panel (usually the one containing information on the person) was also removed and taken from the cemetery. 

After the memorial and panels were chosen, the monument was made and shipped from the foundry. The cost of the marker was usually less than one made of stone. They were also much lighter so that shipping costs were less and they were much easier to handle and install. 

White Bronze memorials reached their popularity peak in the 1880s-1890s. Many people, however, thought they just looked like cheap imitations of stone monuments and didn't want to honor their loved one in such a way. Some cemeteries banned them. 

The popularity was short-lived. By the turn of the century only the original foundry still made the monuments. During World War I, metals were primarily being used for war purposes. In 1939 the company was liquidated. 

In the 100 years, more or less, that the 49 White Bronze markers have been in Citizens Cemetery, they have shown little natural deterioration. The designs and lettering are still as sharp in definition as when the monument was made. Although the metal is brittle and does "creep", the monuments in Citizens Cemetery do not appear to have problems arising from either. Vandals with their thieving ways appear to have caused the only problems. 

Be they headstones, tombstones, gravestones, gravemarkers, headboards, markers, monuments or memorials, their purpose is to honor a person. Enjoy looking at the various examples on your next visit to Citizens Cemetery. 

(Pat Atchison is the chairperson of the Yavapai Cemetery Association. If you would like to know more about the activities of the association, please call 778-5988) 



Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (Sharlot Hall Museum Photo). Reuse only by permission.
When the Taylors died around the turn of the century their next of kin chose White Bronze (zinc) markers instead of marble or granite for monuments at the Citizens Cemetery. Although they were popular for a while at that time because of costs and aesthetics, they later lost their appeal for those same reasons.