You will find this gem tucked away in the back corner of the Marion Cemetery. It was installed back…read morein 1896 by the Merchant family to mark the grave of their patriarch Charles Merchant. It consists of a large ball perched upon a stone plinth. The ball is made of Quincy black granite, which is not quarried anymore. The structure has smaller balls placed in a circular formation around it. Parking here is simple. You just pull up on the nearest driveway, stop and explore. The ball is polished to a shine with the exception of one spot. If you look closely, you will see a circular patch on the ball. That is where it originally made contact with the pedestal that it is sitting on. Rumor has it that the 5.2-ton ball has been slowly rotating somehow. Many have speculated the cause of the movement, including ghost, but there has not been a definitive explanation given to this day. The shifting was first noticed by the Merchant family who had the giant stone lifted by a crane and placed back in its rightful orientation in 1898. They also secured it with some tar. This is a neat unexplained phenomenon that is worth a visit if you are in Marion, just to say that you have seen it. Either way, do not go there thinking you will witness the ball revolving. It only moves a fraction of an inch a year. This memorial is not a large consumer of your time. I was there less than 5 minutes, so I recommend checking out the Harding Memorial, Veterans Memorial Park, the Merchant Memorial, and the Marion County Firefighter's memorial, The WWII Marion County Veterans Memorial, all with in a half a mile. Fun Fact: The structure was featured in "Ripley's Believe It or Not," in 1929 and there is a water fountain created in the likeness of the structure outside the" Ripley's Believe It or Not" Museum in Myrtle Beach.

Very well kept grass is always mowed snow is cleared away and they repair some lots due to old age!read more

I miscarried at 7 weeks, and we had our baby buried here a month ago. This is our first visit. We…read moreare very thankful that the Catholic cemetery buried our baby for free.

Friendly staff, clear & simple pricing, beautiful grounds…read more Buying plots for my family never crossed my mind until recently when we lost a child. Having to find a funeral home and a cemetery in such a short amount of time is not easy to do. We thought getting a plot would be a simple thing to do but found that cemeteries are very busy and you need an appointment. We visited a few cemeteries in the area and were disappointed by the lack of customer service and outrageous prices. We had heard that one didn't need to be Catholic to be buried here, and after stopping in for a visit we found that this was accurate information. The only stipulation that they had was that a religious symbol needs to be on the marker or headstone. For example praying hands, angels, etc. We loved the transparent price sheet. It was a few pages long, covered everything and even included a check sheet on what you need to do after a loved one has passed away. The prices here were about a quarter of the cost compared to other cemeteries near by. The staff was compassionate, caring, and very kind. We were given a run down of prices, lots available and shown options for markers and headstones. We were also chauffeured around the property. They made the process so simple and easy. They even offered us a payment plan so we didn't have to pay for everything all at once. The cemetery is beautiful. There are lots of trees and flowers. The main office was just built a few years ago and is very nice. We were told that there is enough land to last them for 100 years and this is the fastest growing cemetery in Columbus. We were impressed on every aspect of our visit here. I would highly recommend this place because of the affordable prices, customer service and the beautiful grounds.

Wife and I just recently purchased 2 grave plots at Kingwood. Based on the other 2 ratings we…read morefully expected a hard sell when we got there and a bunch of calls later at home if we didn't sign that day. We didn't find any of that. What we found were salespeople who focused the discussions on OUR needs, not their sales. Not only did not try to "push" anything on us, they helped us immensely by pointing out things we never would have considered had we not met with them. In addition to the lack of a sales pitch, the thing that impressed me most was their "can do" attitude." Again, It was obvious from our discussions that the focus was on our needs and not their sales. Another thing that impressed me was the sensitivity shown by the sales staff. Sure its their job but having been born at night, not last night, I'm pretty perceptive and observant about what people say and how they say it and I one could sense that their sensitivity was genuine. Finding burial plots is never a fun thing, but we found this experience, interesting, informative and most of all when we left we had a total peace of mind that we had made the right choices. Our thanks to Angie and John for their patience and their caring. You folks do a great job.

If I could give 0 stars I would. We had a family member pass away in 2023 that still does not have…read morea date of death on his marker. After several unanswered emails, calls and being told it would be taken care of or they'd get back to us they have done neither. Avoid this place at all costs.