Spring Hill Cemetery (Huntington, West Virginia)
{{Short description|Cemetery in Huntington, West Virginia}}
{{Infobox cemetery
| name = Spring Hill Cemetery
| native_name_lang = English
| established = 1874
| location = 1427 Norway Ave, Huntington, West Virginia 25705
| type =
| style =
| owner = Greater Huntington Park and Recreation District
| size = 110 acres
| graves = +80,000
| website = [https://www.ghprd.org/index.php/cemeteries-main Official website]
| findagraveid = 79969
| politicalgeo =
| footnotes =
| nrhp =
| embedded =
}}
Spring Hill Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Huntington, West Virginia. Established in 1874, Spring Hill Cemetery's oldest grave is dated 1838, with the first official burial being 1873.{{Cite web |title=CEMETERIES |url=https://www.ghprd.org/index.php/cemeteries-main |access-date=2024-08-16 |website=Greater Huntington Parks and Recreation District}}{{Cite web |last=Casto |first=James |title=Spring Hill Cemetery, Huntington |url=https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2444 |website=The West Virginia Encyclopedia}}
Notable burials
Image:MUcrash1970MemSpringHill.jpg memorial at Spring Hill Cemetery in 2006.]]
- 1861 - Albert G. Jenkins, former United States House of Representatives
- 1875 - Peter Cline Buffington, first mayor of Huntington, West Virginia
- 1886 - Charles B. Hoard, former United States House of Representatives
- 1900 - Eustace Gibson, former Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates
- 1905 - Delos W. Emmons, co-founder of Huntington, West Virginia
- 1930 - James A. Hughes, former United States House of Representatives
- 1940 - Eloise Hughes Smith, 1912 RMS Titanic disaster survivor{{cite web|last=Harrison|first=Heath|date=August 9, 2023|access-date=September 26, 2024|title=FOCUS: A survivor’s story|url=https://www.irontontribune.com/2023/08/09/focus-a-survivors-story/|publisher=Ironton Tribune}}
- 1954 - Skeeter Shelton, former Major League Baseball Outfielder
- 1959 - Will E. Neal, former United States House of Representatives
=The Marshall Plane Crash=
In 1970, the Southern Airways Flight 932 was carrying 37 members of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team, eight members of the coaching staff, 25 boosters, two pilots, two flight attendants, and a charter coordinator.{{Cite web|title=Plane crash devastates Marshall University|url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/plane-crash-devastates-marshall-university|publisher=History.com|access-date=September 25, 2016}} The team was returning home after a 17–14 loss to the East Carolina Pirates at Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina.{{Cite news|url=http://media.herald-dispatch.com/mucrash/index.php?p=1_61|title=The story of the 1970 Marshall Plane Crash|last=Withers|first=Bob|date=December 19, 2006|work=The Herald-Dispatch|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204042417/http://media.herald-dispatch.com/mucrash/index.php?p=1_61|archive-date=December 4, 2010|access-date=November 15, 2010}}
A mass funeral was held at the field house and many of the dead were buried at the Spring Hill Cemetery, some together because bodies were not identifiable.{{Cite news|url=http://media.herald-dispatch.com/mucrash/index.php?p=1_61|title=The story of the 1970 Marshall Plane Crash|last=Withers|first=Bob|date=December 19, 2006|work=The Herald-Dispatch|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204042417/http://media.herald-dispatch.com/mucrash/index.php?p=1_61|archive-date=December 4, 2010|access-date=November 15, 2010}}{{cite news |last1=Bianchi |first1=Mike |title=People have not forgotten Marshall Crash 30 years ago |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2000-11-12-0011120230-story.html |access-date=12 November 2020 |work=Orlando Sentinel |date=12 November 2000 |quote=Identifying the bodies was an almost impossible task because the explosion tore them apart and the fire burned them to bits. Six victims never were identified, and today their bodies are buried in adjoining graves next to a monument at Spring Hill Cemetery, which overlooks Marshall's campus.}}
Popular culture
One of the final scenes of We Are Marshall took place next to the Southern Airways Flight 932 memorial, as the team went into their first game after the crash.{{Cite web |last=Holtz |first=Hannah |title=The Heartbreaking Story Behind The Marshall University Plane Crash, The ‘Worst Sports-Related Air Tragedy In U.S. History’|url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/marshall-plane-crash|website=All that is Interesting|access-date=October 28, 2024|date=December 6, 2023}}