Free Cemetery Cleaning and Restoration Workshop at Old Settlers’ Cemetery on June 11

48 StateTour is a project to save American’s graveyards. The tour is traveling to the 48 contiguous states in the United States and holding FREE workshops where participants can learn about cleaning and restoring cemeteries.

48 StateTour will be in Charlotte on Thursday, June 11, 2026. They’ll be visiting Old Settlers’ Cemetery, 200 W 5th Street, Charlotte, North Carolina, for a workshop from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will be co-hosted by Historic Elmwood Pinewood Incorporated.

At this event:

• Participate in gravestone cleaning and learn the most common safe & effective repair techniques
• A discussion on historic preservation will begin the day with a short walk and talk tour, visually surveying some of the most historic gravestones and monuments in need of repair.
• Safe & effective removal of biological activity w/ approved stone cleaners & graffiti removal + prevention. HANDS ON! Adopt a stone and perform the cleaning process yourself.
• The most common repair techniques will be discussed and performed including resetting a badly leaning or sunken tablet stone and joining broken gravestone fragments using epoxy, clamps, and bracing techniques.
• If times allows, they’ll employ an overhead, lifting tripod and demonstrate how to rig and lift monuments safely.
• If time allows, review materials required and the process involved in replacing eroded or lost stone with the use of a stone infill material, including preparation, application and curing of mortars.