The Ottawa Heritage Trail: protecting and interpreting remnant pioneer cemetery prairies from Danville to Paxton, Illinois

Abstract

This thesis presents a large scale vision for a system of unplowed remnant prairies in pioneer cemeteries in east-central Illinois, focusing on sites between the city of Danville and the town of Paxton. The objective of the thesis is to protect the remnants by cultivating place attachment among locals and visitors by providing information about the ecological and cultural significance of cemetery prairies. The strategy is to create unique opportunities for experiencing individual sites while associating those settings through a trail concept (a network of cemetery prairies), with the primary purpose of helping to protect isolated remnant prairies. Linking the sites through a designed trail, wayfinding elements, and a brochure elevates the individual significance of the small patches that would otherwise fade into history. Such a network could also create opportunities to extend the prairies, allowing them to flourish once again on a larger scale than at present. This project will cover the ecological and social benefits of such a proposal and will suggest how this concept can be expanded to cemetery and site development in general. Finally, site specific redesigns will be presented that consider alternative approaches to remnant cemetery prairies.