Institutional
Cemetery Documentation
A filable record of the ground you steward
Virginia's Historical African American Cemetery and Graves Fund turns on documentation. The Extraordinary Block Grant names documentation among the activities it will fund, and the Department of Historic Resources asks that a cemetery be documented in the state's cultural resource information system or eligible for recordation. Sentinel Aerial Inspections produces the site map, the marker record, and the condition record that an application rests on.
What's Included
Georeferenced Site Map
A high-resolution orthomosaic of the burying ground, delivered as a GeoTIFF with the datum stated on every sheet. This is the base map a state site record and a grant application are built on.
Marker Record
Every marker visible from the air given a sequential ID, coordinates, a type, and a positional class, delivered as a GeoPackage, a shapefile set, and a plain CSV. This is the documentation a grave count is argued from, and the Department of Historic Resources makes the eligibility determination itself.
Condition Record
Leaning, displacement, sinking, and fragmentation recorded per marker where they are visible from above, then mapped by class with counts by class.
Atlas and State Recordation Form
A tiled PDF atlas with every marker labeled and indexed, plus a completed DHR Citizens Cemetery Recordation Form filled from the record and ready for the steward's signature.
Documented Extent
The outer limit of the burying ground as it reads on the ground, mapped as a polygon and keyed to perimeter photographs, for the state record and for finding the ground itself.
No Equipment on Fragile Ground
The base record is made entirely from the air. No vehicle, cart, or equipment is brought onto the burial ground, and nothing is probed, moved, or cleaned. Where a ground pass is added, it is done on foot.
Where this stops
- Aerial imagery records what is visible at the surface. This work does not identify unmarked or subsurface graves, and it makes no representation about interments that are not marked above ground.
- An orthomosaic records what the camera can see. Tree canopy hides ground, and a wooded burial ground can be invisible from above, so sites under canopy are flown leaf-off or recorded on foot. Coverage is confirmed per site rather than promised in advance.
- The documented extent is a record of where burials and markers are found. It is not a property line, a parcel boundary, or a survey of either. It is not derived from monumentation or metes and bounds, and it must not be used to determine where a boundary lies.
- Marker positions are recorded as a positional class rather than a stated tolerance. Without ground control points or RTK positioning, positions are good enough to find and re-find a marker and to track its condition over time, and not good enough to tie a marker to a plot. Ground control or RTK positioning is available and is scoped separately.
- This record is not suitable for boundary determination, plot line definition, or for the design, modification, or construction of improvements to real property, and it is not suitable for flood plain determination.
- Property lines, plot lines, section lines, and saleable plot inventory are the practice of land surveying in Virginia. Sentinel Aerial Inspections does not offer them and does not quote them.
- Inscriptions that no longer read are recorded as illegible with a photograph. Recovering a worn stone is specialist conservation work and is referred out.
- Eligibility of any grave under Section 10.1-2211.2 of the Code of Virginia is determined by the Department of Historic Resources. This work supplies evidence toward a count and never certifies one.
- The Fund pays the cemetery's owner or steward, never the vendor. Sentinel Aerial Inspections is a line item inside your application and cannot apply on your behalf.
- Organizations new to the Fund are generally expected to receive a Basic Maintenance Grant before becoming eligible for an Extraordinary Block Grant, so grant money may be a cycle away. Localities may be treated differently. The Department decides, and it is worth asking before planning around the money.
Turnaround
Turnaround is quoted with the proposal, once marker count and ground conditions are known. Grant cycles have their own dates, and the schedule is built backward from yours.
Available Add-ons
Per-Marker Inscription and Condition Pass
A ground pass on foot, photographing each marker: one legible inscription frame where the stone still reads, one condition frame, and biological growth recorded from the stone face. An aerial image cannot read a stone, so this pass is what carries the per-grave evidence. Transcription into a names and dates database is separate research work and stays with the steward or a genealogical partner. Availability and scope are confirmed site by site.
Before and After Imagery
Repeat flights across a repair or maintenance cycle, giving a grantee the visual record that project closeout documentation asks for.
Subsurface Referral
Where unmarked burials are suspected, we refer a qualified subsurface specialist and integrate their findings into the site map. Sentinel Aerial Inspections does not perform subsurface work, and the state requires written approval before that work is funded.
Church Property Package
Congregations with a churchyard burying ground can add steeple and roof documentation to the same visit.
Add-on pricing provided with your custom quote.
Ready to Get Started?
Tell us about your site and we'll come back with a scope and a schedule.