Cemetery holds piece of history nearly parallel to current pandemic, staff says
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ASHEVILLE, NC (WLOS ) — The current coronavirus pandemic harkens back to a piece of history that involves an Asheville landmark.
Riverside Cemetery in the Montford District was founded in 1885, 33 years before what was called the Spanish Flu. It infected 500 million people worldwide.
Over the course of almost two-years, the 1918 influenza outbreak killed tens of millions.
There are some victims buried at Riverside. Among those buried there is an older brother of the famous local author, Thomas Wolfe.
Ben Wolfe died in 1918 and he’s part of the story that continues at Riverside today.
“We’re renovating a mausoleum that was last used in 1918 for that,” cemetery director Josh Darty said. “So there have been so many parallels between the two and I couldn’t imagine, with modern day, we would be going through something like this. It’s surreal.”
Although there have been no burials scheduled at riverside since the COVID-19 outbreak began, Darty said it’s still a possibility.
Graveside attendance would be limited to ten people, including funeral home and cemetery staff, also the vault crew.
That means only about four family members would be allowed.
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