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POV you live in a house made out of tombstones

@ghostlyarchive

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Why it worked

The video taps into morbid curiosity and historical intrigue by presenting a unique and macabre origin story for a house, making it shareable and engaging.

Summary

This video tells the story of the Tombstone House in Petersburg, which was built using the bottom halves of 2,200 tombstones from fallen Union soldiers. Due to funding issues during the Great Depression, the cemetery cut the tombstones in half to save on maintenance, and the bottom halves were sold as building materials.

Structure

1Introduction to the Tombstone House
2Origin of the tombstones
3The Great Depression's impact on the cemetery
4The city's solution to cut and sell tombstones
5The house's construction and longevity

On-screen text

POV you live in a house made out of tombstones The Tombstone House was built with 2,200 Union soldiers killed in the Battle of Petersburg The marble markers once topped the graves of soldiers in Poplar Lawn Cemetery. During the Great Depression, maintaining the cemetery and the headstones suffered because of a lack of funding. The city cut the tombstones in 1/2 and lay the halves with the soldiers' details face up This helped to make the cemetery's lawn care easier and cheaper The bottom halves of 2,200 tombstones were sold for $45 as building materials A man named Oswald Young bought them and used it to build his house The Tombstone House has stood for almost 100 years since then

Original caption

The famous Tombstone House of Petersburg. The building was constructed in 1934 from the bottom half of graves of Union soldiers in Poplar Lawn Cemetery. During the Great Depression, maintaining the cemetery and the headstones suffered because of a lack of funding. The city decided to cut the tombstones in half and lay the top halves, which were engraved with the soldiers' details, on the ground face up, to save money on mowing and maintenance. The materials of the 2,200 tombstones were then sold for $45 to Oswald Young, who used them to build his house. Thanks @Atlas Obscura for the details of this story! #tombstonehouse #gravestone #cemeterytok #cemeteryexploring #gravetok