Cemetery Tour brings Opelika history to life

Joe Harrington goes over his lines as he gets ready to play the part of Rev. Isaac Faulkenberry in the annual Rosemere Cemetary Tour Sunday in Opelika. Photo by Cliff Williams/Opelika-Auburn News

Every two years, the history of Opelika comes to life for two nights during the Rosemere Cemetery Tour.

The cemetery tour, hosted by The Museum of East Alabama, introduces visitors to people who have lived - and died - in the city since the 1800s.

The tour will last up to 45 minutes. Golf carts will be available by request for those who are not able to walk the tour, said Glenn Buxton, director of The Museum of East Alabama.

This year’s tour will have 15 all-new honorees. Details from the life stories of each person will be told by volunteers portraying each honoree.

Among those featured will be:

- Sheriff John L. Moon, who served three terms in office, including terms during Prohibition;

- Henry G. Clift, former Opelika mayor and namesake for Clift High School, now Opelika Middle School;

- Felix Hubbard, a blind man who sold food and coffee to train passengers and was the city’s oldest citizen before he died at 80 in 1904;

- Members of the Dr. Thomas L. Cobb family, which includes Mary Lou Cobb, who died on her wedding day. Dr. Cobb will be portrayed by Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones.

The Rosemere Cemetery Tour will be from 7 to 9 p.m., Thursday and Friday. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children 12 and under. Family tickets can also be purchased for $25, with no size limit. The cost of admission includes a printed program containing photographs and information about the tour’s honorees.

Tickets will be sold at The Museum of East Alabama at 121 S. 9th St. in downtown Opelika. Shuttle buses to the cemetery will leave the museum every 15 minutes. Parking will not be available at the cemetery.

The Rosemere Cemetery Tour is held on alternating years with tours at Pine Hill Cemetery in Auburn. The two-night Rosemere Cemetery tour attracted more than 400 people in 2006.

For more information on the tour, visit http://www.eastalabama.org.

Holly Hamby walks through the Rosemere Cemetary as she practices her lines in the annual Rosemere Cemetary Tour Sunday October 5, 2008 in Opelika. The tour is set to be held Oct. 9 and 10.
Photo by Cliff Williams/Opelika-Auburn News