The inscription on this statue says, "To the sacred memory of the unknown dead who rest here, 1806 - 1924" 

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A statue of an angel at West State Cemetery in Athens is said to weep . . .

The first settlers to Athens County came in 1797, six years before Ohio even became a state. Southeastern Ohio was rugged and wild then, an isolated bit of country thick with forests and untamed hillsides. Buffalo roamed the isolated pockets of prairie-like meadows. Few farms or towns had yet to cover the land.  But people would come.  And Athens, Ohio became the perfect setting for many who settled on the hillsides, farming the land and building their new city.

It would be eight years later before the first person was buried at what is now the West State Street Cemetery, a beautiful graveyard settled easily on the rolling hills of Athens.  Over the years following, veterans from the Revolutionary War and Civil War would be buried here along with congressmen, a baseball player and even a notorious murderer.  Some early headstones have long perished to the harsh Ohio elements over the last two hundred years. Many of these fallen gravestones belonged to soldiers who fought for independence not only from outsiders, but also in the war between north and south.

It is the unknown soldiers buried in the cemetery, one angel fiercely protects. She stands tall and reverent by the front gate, watching over the dead buried in the West State Street Cemetery whose names will never don their headstones.  It is said the book she is writing on lists the names of those who are unknown in West State Street Cemetery so they are not forgotten in eternity.

Orbs of light have been seen hovering and dancing around the angel and among the gravestones surrounding her. Many who pass the cemetery have said they see the angel’s wings flutter. Some even say if you look at her face, tears can be seen streaming from her eyes.

If you are near Athens  and have a few minutes to spare, take a short visit along West State Street and stop into the cemetery.  Walk up toward the angel and peer long and deep in her eyes. You can actually see some dark stains beneath those unmoving orbs.  Blotchy remnants from tears, they might be or simply dust and dirt blown up the street and settling on the cold, hard cheeks. Simply said, you decide.