It's not uncommon to find old, grossly uncared for cemeteries in many places across the US. They often are rich in history but unable to afford the upkeep. It's a sad shame. You'll even find that many of these cemeteries have big shots buried there: mayors, politicians, Medal of Honor winners, soldiers, nurses, heros and heroines, actors, entertainers, magicians, sports team owners and players, etc. Many of these cemeteries are older ones, and beautiful. Or once were beautiful and now are often abandoned and overgrown, wild kingdoms, often sites of dumping, prostitution and other crimes. 100 years ago and more people would visit cemeteries for the day to picnic and enjoy the beautiful park-like atmosphere. Now that's mostly a thing of the past. Back in the 1700s and 1800s people lived and died in their communities and tended their ancestors' graves. Now we have such a mobile society and we are all busy busy busy, and there's no connection to our ancestors. Cemeteries were once hallowed ground, but mostly that's no longer true. The operators of deeply neglected cemeteries cannot pay for the upkeep of older graves and don't have enough money from new burials to take care of their sprawling necropolises. Many people also are choosing to have remains cremated. It's cheaper.
Some 19th century cemeteries opened before perpetual care was established. Today all states require that a portion of the sale price of burial space-10 to 15 percent- be placed in an irrevocable trust for the care of the grounds, forever. What other business has to do this? In many cases at older cemeteries and funeral homes people paid for perpetual care and were defrauded.
(Thanks in large part to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Sunday, March 25, 2012, written by Edward Colimore.)
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