Labor Day is here – Coon Dog Cemetery – an interesting stop near Red Bay, AL

The Tiffin Allegro Club wants to make your visit to Red Bay a memorable one.   Guests visit Red Bay for numerous reasons – #1 taking the Tiffin plant tour, but also to receive service work or watch their new coach travel down the assembly line. While you’re here, we encourage you to visit our surrounding area. To help you plan your visit, we will publish a short series of articles on Tiffin Sideroads over the next few weeks that will highlight some of our interesting attractions.

One of the most unique and talked about attractions is the Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard aka Coondog Cemetery. More information can be found at http://coondogcemetery.com . This is the only cemetery of its kind in the world. Only Coon Hounds are allowed to be buried here. To qualify for burial, where over 185 coon dogs have been laid to rest, it has been said that three requirements must be met:

• The owner must claim their pet is an authentic coon dog.
• A witness must declare the deceased is a coon dog.
• A member of the Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard, Inc. must be allowed to view the coonhound and declare it as such.

“We have stipulations on this thing,” said the late O’Neal Bolton, former caretaker of the Coon Dog Graveyard. “A dog can’t run no deer, possum—nothing like that. He’s got to be a straight coon dog, and he’s got to be full hound. Couldn’t be a mixed up breed dog, a house dog.”

 

Each Labor Day, the Friends of the Coondog Cemetery host a celebration at the cemetery. Entertainment includes music, dancing, food and a liar’s contest. Time: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. Official Coon Dog T-shirts, Cemetery Pins, and Camouflage Caps are available to purchase. Tiffin owners are welcome to visit the cemetery anytime. From Red Bay, travel east on Ala Hwy 24 to Ala Hwy 247 North. Go north on Ala Hwy 247 for 12 miles. Turn west on Coondog Cemetery Road and follow the signs. Again, for more information, visit their website at http://coondogcemetery.com . Pictures courtesy of Tiffin owner, John Mitchell.