The coon dog cemetery

By Editor | September 8, 2017 |

Andrew McCrea

It looks like many cemeteries in the U.S. There are grave markers and flowers surrounded by many trees. But this is not like any other cemetery in the nation and that’s because of who is buried here.

I took a trip down the backroads, southwest of Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The place is marked, but you’ll have to make a few turns to get there. That’s where I met Suzanne Hamlin to visit about the unique spot.

It all began with a man named Key Underwood back in 1937. “He had a favorite coon dog whose name was ‘Troop,” says Suzanne. “When Troop died Mr. Underwood brought him back here to bury him.”

That burial spot was on the edge of the Freedom Hills Wildlife Management area, a favorite hunting area for the two, but interestingly, not land that Mr. Underwood actually owned.

“He had no idea he was starting the world’s only Coon Dog Cemetery,” explains Suzanne. Even though it wasn’t Underwood’s property, his buddies called him when their coon dogs died to get permission to place their dogs next to Troop’s grave.

Like Arlington National Cemetery though, not just anyone can make this their final resting place. “Mr. Underwood was real picky about who he allowed to be buried here. That dog had to be a true coon hunter,” says Suzanne.

In the 1940s Underwood found himself in charge of the world’s only coon dog cemetery, a cemetery that was not on land he owned, yet he determined who could be buried there! It worked out just fine though. The wildlife area accommodated the spot realizing it was an important memorial to some of the best dogs in the nation.

The first marker placed here in 1937 for Troop was just an old stone from a nearby chimney. Underwood simply chiseled the dog’s name into the rock. You’ll find “Lulu” and “High Pocket” here, along with “Troop” and many other dogs, each with a simple handmade marker etched with their year of birth and death. Sometimes the epitaph will carry a list of the dog’s accomplishments.

There’s still three or four burials each year, for a total of about 300 dogs in all. And, in the tradition of Mr. Underwood, a committee decides if your dog is worthy of internment.

“You treat it in a respectful way. It does look a lot like a human cemetery,” says Suzanne. “The graves are a little closer together, but with all of the flowers here, you can see that all of these dogs were loved.”

It’s a truly interesting place to visit, down the backroads of Alabama to a shady hillside containing the most unique gravestones you may ever see, all in tribute to man’s best friend, and the best of their kind.

Andrew McCrea travels the countryside as host of the radio and tv feature, “American Countryside.” Follow his journies at AmericanCountryside.com and by following the show on Facebook. Reprinted with permission from Farm Journal.