Pine Grove wall: the long and the short of it

LYNN – Believe it – or not – legend and local lore about the Pine Grove Cemetery wall being the “second longest contiguous stone wall in the world” may be enshrined on the city?s website. But it is not in Ripley?s Believe It or Not?s records.?There?s absolutely nothing. We have no reference to verify it,” said Ripley?s spokesman Edward Meyer.That said, the city of Lynn website?s Pine Grove history states that Pine Grove “has been recorded in Ripley?s Believe It or Not as the ?second longest continuous stone wall in the world,? second only to the Great Wall of China.”Lynn Assistant Public Works Superintendent Jeffrey Stowell said the wall was built in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration, but he has no official records verifying the website?s claim.?I?ve always heard about it but never read it anywhere,” he said.Ranging in height from 6 feet to 12 feet, the wall was built from fieldstones set in place with mortar. Its builders drew on a ready supply of big stones from Lynn?s rocky ground. Parts of the walls are topped with jagged stone and its length butts up against residential backyards across the city.Stowell said it is almost impossible to walk along all 13,560 feet of stone and mortar wall surrounding Pine Grove Cemetery, but the assistant public works superintendent plans to survey a good portion of the wall before the winter to determine where repairs are needed.?I?ll walk certain sections to check on critical areas that need attention,” Stowell said.With 82 acres of graves and a 160-year history, Pine Grove is one of the largest city-owned properties, and its “second longest wall” status is firmly cemented into local legend and lore.Former city Community Development Director Edward Calnan said the legend has endured “through the years.”?I didn?t put much stock in it,” he said.The wall?s claim to fame even made its way into local schools: city Chief Librarian Theresa Hurley said her niece, Ryanne Conway, cited the second-longest reference in a second-grade paper she wrote.?That was 25 years ago,” Hurley said.The wall abuts residential neighborhoods, and it isn?t always accorded the respect it enjoys in local legends. Stowell said residents occasionally toss discarded Christmas trees and gardening debris over the wall, and he said kids unsuccessfully attempted to burrow through the wall.The wall does not completely surround Pine Grove: It ends at the side of the cemetery bordering Gallagher Playground before resuming on Parkland Avenue.The long, almost-straight wall section along Parkland received much-needed maintenance, including pointing, several years ago, and other sections are showing signs of crumbling or loosening mortar.?Other work has been done throughout the cemetery where it is needed,” Stowell said.Wall sections in some of Pine Grove?s corners are too overgrown by trees and underbrush to walk along or work on. Stowell, a 35-year city employee, said Pine Grove?s wall may be the cemetery?s largest historical feature but not its only one.Dating back to 1918, explorer and newspaper cartoon artist Robert Ripley began collecting “unbelievables.” He has a website, books and collections devoted to the unusual.Meyer offered a minor concession to Lynn?s enduring legend after spending about an hour on Monday attempting to find a Ripley?s reference to the Pine Grove wall.?No luck – but I can assume it is an interesting wall,” he said.