Gravestones In A Circular Pattern

It’s not often we see gravestones arranged in a circle. Usually it’s row after row, nice straight lines. Or maybe even going around something in the way, like a hill or tree, or along the side of a road.

Back when the settlers were heading west, if their wagon broke a wheel that was not replaceable, it was used as a decoration of sorts, and that’s where they stayed. In a cemetery, it was important to find out who the first settlers were by using the wagon wheel pattern. Burying a person on the spoke of a wheel meant they were an original settler. There isn’t an agreed-upon way to position the body with the head pointing up or down from the hub of a wheel pattern. These alignments don’t always indicate settlers but reflect other themes of importance.

For example: In the Denver's Fairmount Cemetery, the headstones have been arranged in a circular pattern. This is to commemorate military events, like the Colorado Volunteers' graves being marked in a circle with the gravestones facing outward. There's also a circular headstone arrangement called 'The Garden of Honor', where the headstones face the flag instead.

This is a panoramic photo from a cemetery in Geneseo. What are your thoughts about circles in a cemetery?