Dicks Creek Cemetery, one of the oldest surviving cemeteries in Warren County, is the final resting place for many of the original settlers in the Blue Ball area. It was established in 1810 when Joseph Parks and his son, Robert, donated a parcel of ground on Union Road for a church and an acre of ground adjacent to it for a cemetery. Revolutionary War Veteran, Joseph Parks who died 12 Apr 1814, is the 1st known burial in the cemetery.

From various sources , we know of 133 burials in the cemetery. Gravestones for 88 of them have been located and photographed. This last known burial in the cemetery is said to be that of Bruce Mell in the 1920s.
The cemetery is the final resting place for Seven Revolutionary War veterans (one of the highest concentrations in Warren County) Joseph Parks, Robert Boal, Joseph Green, Andrew Karr, James Wilson, John McMeen and John Bryant. It is also the final resting place for Civil War soldiers John Logan and Theophilus L. Todd. . Gravestones remain for all of these patriots except the gravestone for Joseph Parks.

HELP! THIS CEMETERY IS ENDANGERED
Spurred on by the relocation of Middletown Regional Hospital to Union Road, north of State Route 122, the area all around the cemetery is being rapidly developed according to current proposals. A luxury upscale housing, condominiums, and a professional office campus. developement (Renaissance Village) is in the works immediately north, south and east of the cemetery by Great Midwest Development, LLC [TEL: 513-221-5660]. Marty Kohler (513) 425-7941 Middletown Planning Director, indicated during the preliminary planning commission approval of the professional office portion of the project, that as the result of the anticipated heavy traffic on Union Road created by this and other development in the the area, Middletown and the OKI Regional Planning Commission have plans to widen Union Road between Route 122 and Hendrickson Road from 2 lanes to 5 lanes, which has already been done immediately north of the cemetery at the Rte 122 intersection. Mr. Kohler indicated that the cemetery encroaches on the existing Union Road right-of-way [hmmmm - what was there first].

It appears that the road widening options available are
(1) Widen the road to the west of the cemetery which would leave the cemetery intact but would negatively impact the Grace Baptist Church soccer field and baseball diamond. The church has stated their intention to vigorously oppose this option.
(2) Widen the road on either side of the existing Union Road centerline which would extend the existing right-of-way boundary about 23 feet on either side of the road. This would probably destroy most of the Dicks Creek Cemetery as well as take some of the Grace Baptist Church land to the west. The church has expressed a willingness to permit the relocation (to their cemetery, Grace Memorial Gardens) of any of the Dicks Creek Cemetery graves that are desecrated by the proposed road widening project.
PLEASE HELP!