A 1 mile loop hike tour of Grandview Cemetery and its undeveloped ground. Developed portion can be driven, reducing the hike to slightly shorter out and back hike. Please be respectful of the cemetery setting. Roads closely follow the straight-line courses allowing you to avoid bushwacking over the graves. Look at the Attributes; this is NOT available after dusk.
In addition to the Chapin Arch readily visible along PA 271, the Grandview Cemetery also featured the Morrell Arch located along its original winding access road, which was built in 1887. The McMillen Chapel was also located adjacent to the Arch. This road was designed by John Fulton, an engineer with the Cambria Iron Company. Although it is now mostly wooded, the road featured an alignment that overlooked downtown Johnstown along its entire length, which led to the Cemetery name. Mr. Fulton had also conducted an inspection of the South Fork Dam in 1880, outlining deficiencies that, defiantly left uncorrected by the members of the South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club, led to the 1889 Johnstown Flood.
To find the remnants of the Arch and Chapel, park at the posted coordinates. You will find a row of 4 tombstones at the end of the road. Get Stanley’s year of death (19AB).
From this location, look for a window to the sky, located on a ridge at a bearing of 179º. Go to it and get George and Elaine’s wedding date (6/C/19DE).
You can see the domed memorial of your forth stop, described below, by looking at a bearing of 253º from the window. But before going there, walk 323 feet at a bearing of 188º to the resting place of America’s firstWorld War II flying Ace, a native of Johnstown. Get the years of Boyd's birth (19FG) and death (19Hi), along with his mother Elizabeth’s year of death (19JK).
From this grave you will find the large domed memorial 0.17 miles away at a bearing of 271º. You can’t see it from here; it’s behind the arborvitae left of the evergreen. The dome of this memorial was reportedly carved from a single piece of marble. Get Clement’s birth year – (18MN), SW of the dome.
At a bearing of 342º and a distance of 0.23 miles, you will find a single obelisk in the center of a circle. This is not directly visible from the domed memorial due to other vegetation. Daniel had been the general manager of the Cambria Iron Company. His wife purchased this plot on the first day that cemetery lots were offered for sale on April 25, 1887, and it was a memorial to her that the arch along the access road was erected. What was Susan's age (PQ)?
Walking 183 feet at a bearing of 8º, you will find the first interment at the cemetery. Get Lucretia’s birth year (18RS). Note that there are 2 stones for Lucretia. Her tall original one and a surface stone commemorating the first internment.
From her site, you will see an orb at bearing of 17º. Seventy-five feet East of the orb, you will find a gated road that will lead you beyond the graves to the cache.
6/12/20 Update - While making a maintenance run, we saw that this road is now posted with a no tresspassing sign. Checked in cemetery office and were told that they have had some vandalism and underage drinking problems along this road, but we were allowed to use it for casual daytime walking. You can confirm with the office if you are uncomfortable, but as long as you are not a group of teenagers carrying spray paint or concealed alcohol, you will be ok. Didn't see any vandalism to date as far down as the cache.
The cache coordinates are at N40 FS.CKE W78 BD.iMQ. Adjust these coordinates by -0.005 (N) and +0.008 (W) due to final positioning adjustments. The Chapel was a memorial to Mrs. James McMillen, whose husband was the first president of the Cemetery Association. Neither the Chapel nor the Arch remains, but the stone retaining walls at various locations along the road are still intact. The cost of constructing this road nearly led to the selection of a different site for this Cemetery, in Richland.
The access road provides a peaceful wooded walk nearly to “Pot of Gold” (http://tinyurl.com/3gb74wy), but that cache cannot be safely accessed from this route. Construction of the “Easy Grade” roadway, which cut through this access road near the Chapin Arch, resulted in the abandonment of this road in the 1940’s. You should be able to see remnants of the arch walls just beyond the cache location.
Before leaving the cemetery, be sure to also visit the memorial plot to the unidentified victims of the Flood at N40º 18.940 W78º 55.652.
This is Featured Cache #13 of the Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Geotrail, which highlights the scenic and historic amenities of the area. Be sure to collect and record the Geotrail Code Word from in (or near, in the case of micros) the cache to your official Geotrail Passport, which can be obtained from the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. A map and list of all caches featured in the Geotrail can be found at visit link. or they can be bulk downloaded from the bookmark list.