Above the double doors, carved in wood and highlighted with silver paint, is one word: Machpelah.
Machepelah is most likely not a surname, but rather a reference to the Cave of Machpelah, also known as the Cave of the Patriarchs. Believed to be the burial place of Abraham and Sarah, the Cave of the Patriarchs is considered holy by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
There is a hunk of concrete to the right of the doors on which someone has scratched the name Nell Andrix. Is this a hint about who is buried in the mausoleum? There are a number of Andrix graves nearby. Most likely, just an unrelated scrap.
Who is buried in the Machpelah mausoleum?
How fascinating, I just love a good old fashioned mystery. Please give us an update if you uncover anything ......
ReplyDeleteThe chimney is for ventilation, all mausoleums need ventilation or else you'd get lots of undesirable things growing in there. It would be really unpleasant to open the mausoleum for the next interment.
ReplyDeleteI live near this mausoleum
ReplyDeleteI live near this mausoleum
ReplyDeleteI do not believe it was ever a mausoleum, as it did not hold the bodies of the deceased, but served as a maintenance structure that housed tools. My father was born in the house (now gone) located next to the cemetery. When I was a kid, my father mowed the Oak Hill on Saturday mornings (not that it was his vocation, he worked for the Madison County Juvenile and Probate Courts), and his father cared for the cemetery on his days off from the gas company before him. My father was born in 1938. According to him, the structure was never used for anything but storage of tools and such.
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