ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – One of the oldest cemeteries in America is trying to keep its history alive, but the decades-old fence that protects the graveyard is falling apart.
A preservation group is soliciting financial support for a replacement fence around the St. Augustine's Tolomato Cemetery, which opened in the late 1700s.
While the existing fence is more than 60 years old, age is not its only enemy. When people trying to get pictures of the the final resting place of about 1,000 of the city's oldest residents can't fit their camera or phone through the chain-link fence, some climb the wall, damaging the fence even more.
"This is the original grave," said Matt Armstrong with the Tolomato Cemetery Preservation Association. "You can see the stone is not in good shape, but after over 200 years it's understandable."
The Preservation Association has launched started a "Fence by the Foot" campaign to help fund an $85,000 project to replace the existing fence with a new wall and iron rails. Organizers hope to get the fencing project completed by next summer -- in time for St. Augustine's 450th commemoration.
MAKE A DONATION: TolomatoFence.com
The new fence will not only benefit visitors,"They'll be able to put their hands between the bars and take a photograph that way," said Armstrong.
"You have to actively preserve those things, so we're doing this to make sure Tolomato stays a beautiful, sacred place for our children and our grandchildren," Armstrong added.