A topic about “the oldest tombstone” was listed on the Graveyard Rabbits webpage not that long ago, but if older wiser rabbits stop to ponder it (which we often do) … the question is just a little misleading. If you travel regularly through your cemeteries, you know not all the graves are made of stone!
So, with that observation in mind, are we really interested in the oldest tombstone, or the oldest grave marker … regardless of what it was made of?
The oldest stone that I have found in my travels sits in the Richmond Hill Cemetery of Richmond Hill, Ontario.
This four-sided family stone lists eleven burials! The earliest one was 1852.
But, this next gravestone is not made from stone at all:
This monument is white bronze AKA zinc! Yes, molded metal, from 1870, located in the same cemetery listed above in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
Others grave “stones” have been made from bronze, cast iron, wrought iron, steel, concrete, and wood. The only question now is: how old are they?