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| Type of site | Online database |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Jim Tipton |
| Created by | Jim Tipton |
| URL | www.findagrave.com |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional |
Find A Grave is an online database of over 22 million burial records. Readers of Family Tree Magazine voted it one of the top 25 genealogy websites they couldn't live without.
History
The website was founded in 1995 by Jim Tipton. He could not find an existing site that catered to his hobby of visiting the graves of famous people so he decided to create Find A Grave. Initially the site listed only celebrities, famous or infamous (the definition of which site administrators had changed frequently, generally referring to individuals who had received recognition in a broad spectrum, i.e., individuals known to people around the world or famous in activity or field with a global following).
With the turn of the millennium, Tipton opened the site to non-famous memorials, thus creating a genealogical data base that has been used by people searching for family records.
In expanding the scope of gravesites covered, the site inculcated a community of individuals who have reached out to one another after the loss of family members and friends. With the growing impact of the site, Tipton created an online forum on the site to encourage communication.
Content and features
The website contains listings of cemeteries and graves from all around the world. American cemeteries are organised by state and county; and, many cemetery records contain Google Maps (with GPS coordinates supplied by contributors and the U.S. Geological Survey) and photographs of the cemeteries. Individual grave records contain some or all of the following data fields: dates and places of birth and death, biographical information, cemetery and plot information, photographs (grave marker, the individual, etc.), and contributor information. The vast majority of records have been contributed by field volunteers.
Membership at Find A Grave gives people the opportunity to place on-line memorials for relatives and friends. There is no cost for this service and users receive editing privileges over the memorials. Members may also request photos of graves which volunteers fulfill.
Find A Grave community
Find A Grave counts more than 350,000 members, who over the years of the site's existence have formed a community. The Find A Grave Forums is a message board for contributors to the main website and many persons who are interested in genealogy or cemeteries. Many of the members engage in a hobby that has been referred to by the public at large as "Tombstone Tourism" (the practice of visiting cemeteries purely for personal enjoyment) and which the people of the site refer to as "graving". Sections of the forum cover a variety of posts by subject:
- Cemeteries and Genealogy, for discussions of cemeteries and burial data.
- Finding Famous Graves, for discussing aspects of visiting and researching the graves of notable people.
- Help With Find A Grave, one of the most useful areas for getting prompt answers to problems with the site and/or to list changes that require a Find A Grave Administrator's action.
- The American Civil War, American Civil War graves questions and information.
- Cemetery Preservation, discussions of issues and techniques for cemetery preservation.
- Mourning, Grief and Emotional Support, "support group" to receive and offer support to others over the loss of loved ones.
- The Lounge, social "anything goes" forum which just about says it all.
- Surnames, for discussion on issues of genealogy related to a specific surname.
- There is a section for each state of the United States for discussions of graves by geographic region.
- Sections for Canada and Europe have been added as well.
See also
References
- Family Tree Magazine, February 2005
- "Find A Grave Contributor: Jim Tipton". Find A Grave. 2007.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work=|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - "City Pages - Grave Matters". Retrieved 2008-03-27.