Web site aids grave site research

OREM — Grave site research tools — including a searchable database and maps to grave locations — are now available for several Utah cemeteries through a Web site, www.namesinstone.com.

"Names in Stone" was developed by Orem-based Gateway Mapping Inc., dedicated to preserving valuable historical information and enhancing cemetery research.

"Conventional cemetery Web sites provide an alphabetical listing of burials, Names in Stone shows you where somebody is buried," says David Day, Gateway Mapping president. "A visitor to the site can search for a deceased person, and if the name is in the database, it will take them to a map showing the grave location and the surrounding graves."

Sixty-two cemeteries currently have their burial records on the site. Although the majority are in Utah, it is open to any cemetery throughout the world.

"The intent is to add as many cemeteries as possible to make this a useful research tool for the public," Day said. In addition to Utah, the site currently the houses data from cemeteries in California, Idaho, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.