Penetrating Radar Systems, Inc. (GPRS) a nation wide leader in ground radar from Toledo, Ohio, recently provided its services to Fayette’s historic Hopeful community in a search for unmarked graves.
Hopeful community, in the northwest corner of Fayette County on Ga. Highway 92 and New Hope Road, was established in 1825, the same year Fayette’s old courthouse was started. It includes a cemetery which is the final resting place of Fayette pioneers and veterans.
As part of a restoration project, Hopeful Community Center and community volunteers have been working hard for months clearing underbrush and trees from the historic cemetery.
“We are delighted to confirm GPRS found unmarked graves in the cemetery,” said Judy Chastain, president of the Hopeful Community Center. “It was amazing to watch the state-of-the-art ground radar confirm the oral histories passed down through the community for 189 years,” Chastain added. Academic research is continuing to learn more about the Fayette icon.
GPRS’s effective scientific hardware and software looks through the surface to see what is below. The technology utilizes an electromagnetic pulse to send and receive data.
“It is an ultrasound for the earth very much like medical imaging,” said Jeff DeHart, regional manager in the southeast for Ground Penetrating Radar Systems. “The technology can find buried utilities, look through cement and has been used by law enforcement,” DeHart remarked.
Hopeful members continued restoration efforts last Saturday, April 26 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on the church property.
