Lee University and the Bradley County Historical and Genealogical Society will present the 14th annual Walking Tour of Historic Fort Hill Cemetery on Sunday, Oct. 25.
Tours will be led by Lee University history majors and volunteers who will introduce the community to several fascinating Clevelanders and Bradley Countians from the 19th and early 20th centuries, buried at Fort Hill.
Students and local performers dressed in period costume will bring these early residents to life. This year’s tour will include the following historical characters: John and Martha Gill Hoyl, John and Naomi Robertson, John D. Traynor, Thomas and Susan Lea Callaway, Robert and Ann Fischer McNelley, James Collins, Levi and Harriet Lavender Trewhitt, Fantroy and Ellen Soule Carter, Samuel and Catherine (Kate) Hall Hunt, and George Calloway.
In an effort to encourage social distancing and follow safety guidelines, tours will be scheduled and limited to 20 people per tour group. Tours will take place at 3, 3:30, 4, 4:30, 5:15, 5:45, and 6:15 p.m. Guests should sign up for a specific tour time in advance and arrive in the cemetery 10-15 minutes before the scheduled tour begins. Upon arrival, guests will be directed to tents to pay and pick up the tour brochure.
The cost is $5 per person. All guests and tour guides must wear masks while on the tour. Performers will not be masked but will be separated from guests and other performers by at least six feet.
There will not be a shuttle van into the cemetery from off-site parking lots this year. Guests are invited to park at the Boys and Girls Club and walk into the cemetery or to drive into the cemetery and follow the direction of parking attendants and signs to appropriate designated parking spaces inside the cemetery.
Please reserve a spot in a specific tour by contacting Lee’s history department at 614-8137 or by emailing hipsc@leeuniversity.edu with “Fort Hill tour” in the subject line
Guests can also sign up online through SignUpGenius at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050E4DADA92EA3FB6-fort1 or by visiting http://www.leeuniversity.edu/NewsItem.aspx?id=17752.