Iowa Church Works to Identify Unmarked Gravestones

A cemetery and tombstone in the daylight

Photo: Getty Images

(Cedar Rapids, IA) -- A Cedar Rapids church is teaming up with BillionGraves to document unmarked Iowa gravestones.

The Cedar Rapids stake of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints is launching the Rescuing our Roots project.

According to the project's Facebook page, the goal is to photograph and document more than 20,000 headstones in Iowa from September 10th through Memorial Day.

The church is also hoping to win a Guinness World Record with BillionGraves, an online resource for searchable GPS cemetery data.

Iowa did not track births or deaths until 1880, despite becoming a state in 1846.


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