Editing Hardin, Missouri (section)

==History==
[[File:Hardin Cemetery Map.png|thumb|upright=1.25|Map diagram of Hardin Cemetery]]

Hardin was laid out in 1868.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RfAuAAAAYAAJ | title=How Missouri Counties, Towns and Streams Were Named | publisher=The State Historical Society of Missouri | author=Eaton, David Wolfe | year=1917 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RfAuAAAAYAAJ/page/n116 345]}}</ref> The community was named for [[Charles Henry Hardin]], 22nd Governor of Missouri.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n148 149]}}</ref> A post office called Hardin has been in operation since 1858.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=MO&county=Ray | title=Post Offices| publisher=Jim Forte Postal History | access-date=12 December 2016}}</ref>

===1993 floods===
Hardin and its cemetery were affected by the [[Great Flood of 1993]], due to their location near the [[Missouri River]]. On July 12, 1993 a levee protecting the town of Hardin broke, flooding the city and the cemetery. The flood waters cut a pond thru the cemetery and swept away 793 burials. Later, under the leadership of Dean Snow, 645 remains were recovered, but most were unidentified. Some were still inside their vaults or caskets (thus helping making identification easier), while others were scattered in the open. Since [[DNA testing]] was still in its infancy, bodies and bones had to be identified by the rate of decay, sex, age range, dental records and family recollections. Of the bodies recovered, only 120 were identified and reburied with their original headstones. The remaining 525 bodies were unidentified. Some had decayed to the point that they were unrecognizable, others were too old to have any surviving records or relatives. The unidentified bodies were reburied in a mass grave in part of a 9.5 acre plot of land that was purchased by the cemetery after the 1993 flood. The unidentified were marked with a headstone listing them as unknown and a number, so in case the bodies were to be disturbed again by another flood or if authorities wanted to try to identify them with newer technology or DNA testing in the future. A memorial was added to the western entrance of the cemetery in 1994 to honor the 1993 flood and the unidentified bodies. Part of the newly acquired acre of land was also used to display the recovered headstones of those whose bodies were not identified. They today function as a [[Cenotaph]] for the unidentified bodies so living family members can still pay respects. The rest was used to rebury the 120 identified bodies and for new burials. In 1995, a second memorial was added near the mass grave displaying the names, birth and death years of the displaced bodies that could not be identified. Today, the cemetery is 18.5 acres large, including the pond.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://raycountymuseum.org/home/history/hardin-cemetery-disaster/|title=Hardin Cemetery Disaster &#124; Ray County Museum}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hearthstonelegacy.com/the-hardin-cemetery-disaster-hardin-missouri-ray-county-mo.htm|title = The Hardin Cemetery Disaster, Hardin, Missouri, Ray County, MO}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.missourinet.com/2013/10/15/officials-recall-hardin-cemetery-washout-20-years-ago/|title=Officials recall Hardin Cemetery washout 20 years ago|date=15 October 2013}}</ref>