Achor Valley Cemetery

Like most cool destinations in Ohio, I discovered Achor Valley Cemetery when Kaylah (aka The Dainty Squid) posted her amazing photos of the graveyard and abandoned church. I often lament that I never fully took advantage of all that Ohio has to offer in the 27 years that I lived there, but I'm trying to make up for lost time during my visits home.

On my most recent trip back, I borrowed my dad's car (my grandpa's beige, Buick Oldsmobile) and took a solo, mini-road trip through central and eastern Ohio. My first stop was Achor Valley Cemetery in Columbiana County, near the Ohio/Pennsylvania border. I can't find much information about the cemetery or the church, but it was definitely worth the hour-and-a-half drive through mostly rural back roads (at one point I crossed a one-lane bridge - eek).

The small church on the property sits abandoned and most of the windows are boarded up—except one. There was a cinder block and a brick underneath as a makeshift step, and I was amazed at how easy it was to get into and also how relatively nice it was inside. There was no graffiti, very little trash and all of the wooden pews are still there, dusty and covered in spiderwebs.

The graveyard was larger than I expected, and had some really lovely old stones. The property is right near an active country club and golf course, but I was the only one visiting in the middle of the day and it was very peaceful. I would love to know more about the cemetery and when/why the church was abandoned, but there's something nice to the mystery of not knowing as well.