Myrtle Hill focus for preservation event
Rome’s historic Myrtle Hill cemetery will host a Historic Preservation Month event dubbed a Hike to History.
The program will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with guided tours of the cemetery at 11:00, 12:00 and 1:00.
The tours are expected to follow specific routes and take between 20 minutes and half an hour giving participants plenty of time to ask questions about specific grave sites and historic figures from Rome’s past they are interested in.
A number of food trucks have been lined up to provide lunch for participants who are also welcome to tour the cemetery on their own.
Myrtle Hill was selected as the location for Rome’s second public cemetery in 1850 as the Oak Hill cemetery, how on the east side of Riverside Way south of Turner McCall Boulevard was filling up. The cemetery actually opened in 1858.
A former First Lady, Ellen Axson Wilson, wife of President Woodrow Wilson, is interred there. Charles Graves, America’s Known Soldier from World War I, is also interred in a plaza honoring Rome service men that faces South Broad Street. More than 300 Civil War graves are located in a section at the base of the hill
The trees at Myrtle Hill were just added to the Georgia Urban Forest Council’s Landmark
and Historic Trees Registered. The cemetery features more than 40 different species.
Half of International Food Court now vacant
Two of the four slots in Dr. Miniyar’s International Food Court, 114 Broad Street are now closed and a third is expected to close by early summer.
The 3-26 Philly Cheese steak shop has merged with J.J. Sumo Grill and the La Conquista slot has closed altogether. Duke’s Seafood & Wings is planning a move to a building in the 300 block of Broad Street, with employees indicating that should happen within two months. The ownership has already put a request before the Rome Alcohol Control Commission for a beer and wine pouring license to be issued at the new location, 313 Broad Street.
The food court was developed with enough space for as many as six small businesses, however two of the slots have never been developed.
Summer on the way, gas prices rising
Gas prices are climbing toward levels that have not been seen in nearly three years. GasBuddy is reporting that nationally, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline jumped to $2.68 a gallon.
Locally, prices at the pump are still in the $2.47-$2.59 range at most area stations.
GasBuddy cites a surge on oil prices to almost $67 a barrel based on concerns regarding military action in Syria and trade issues with China.
U.S. oil inventories are also significantly lower than this time last year, reflective of an increase in U.S. oil exports combined with cuts in production by the OPEC conglomerate.
The switch to the more expensive summer blends is also on the horizon.