Clay County preservation board weighs volunteer cemetery restorations, marker budget and signage plans

The Clay County Historical Preservation Board on Nov. 6, 2025 received updates on volunteer-led restoration projects at several historic cemeteries, ongoing efforts to locate unregistered burial sites and the board's marker and signage plans for the coming year.

Board staff member Beth said the board's FY2026 budget for markers is $10,400 and reviewed markers currently in production or pending state review, including Brannonfield, Saint Mary's Episcopal and a Middleburg school marker. "This year's budget for '26, we have a budget of, 10,400," Beth said.

Why it matters: many of the sites discussed are on private property, unregistered with state files or overgrown; preserving them depends on volunteer labor, property-owner permission, and compliance with county land-use rules. Beth told the board that "there is a landscape code in the county and...no clearing or...tree removal should be done without the submittal and approval of a landscape plan" for nonresidential…