EASTERN LIGHT CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1864

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): Pennsylvania Hallowed Grounds

HISTORY:

Eastern Light Cemetery in Altoona was created in 1864 and the land which fronts 10th Street and Oak Ridge Cemetery was purchased by John Ferguson, George Hooper, and John Alexander for African American citizens of Altoona. In addition, to these men, George M. Jackson, Henry Johnson, George Payne, and Allan (or Allen) Hurley were its first stockholders. It houses the remains of 6 USCT soldiers, the remains of the first Black high school graduate of Altoona High and the remains of the youngest son and his wife of Blair County's best known Underground Railroad conductor.

BCN Contact Information:

Blair County Branch NAACP #2252

admin@blairconaacp.org

LEPAGEVILLE MEMORIAL CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1885

ADDITONAL NAMES: Brewton Hill, Bruton Hill

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

LePageville Memorial Cemetery is a 19th-century site located in Savannah, Georgia, Chatham County since the late 1800’s. It is all that is left of a workers village set up to house laborers for the Savannah, Florida, and Western Railway, and the Savannah River wharves. In 1967, the LePageville Community, about 9 acres, was condemned and later demolished because of hazardous and unhealthy living conditions. Present day descendants and concerned citizens now work together to uncover and preserve the history of the LePageville Community and its embedded burial ground. What is left is only 3.85 acres that were sold to the LePageville Memorial Cemetery Corporation for $1.00 in 2002. We have lost the rest to development and commercialization. Records estimate that at least 500 people were buried at LePageville between 1888 and 1967. Although this African American property dates back to 1885, it was preceded in use as a part of the expansive 250-acre Brewton Hill Plantation which housed residents enslaved by Miles Brewton dating back to the late 1775. It was later purchased by Thomas Causton of Causton Bluff Plantation) in 1852. This land is also significant to Savannah-Chatham County history as the site of the Battle of Brewton Hill on December 29, 1778, during the American Revolutionary War. This is documentation of the LePageville grounds during a key event in American history, not just African American history. The cemetery is the final resting place for laborers who worked on the Liberty ships during World War II, longshoremen, and other laborers crucial to the economy of Savannah, Georgia and the United States. Those buried include the formerly enslaved such as Henrietta Polite, born in 1861 and U.S. veterans. Sadly, no markers or tombstones of any type remain. We wish to remove the underbrush, identify burial sites, and create a beautiful green space to honor the interred.

BCN Contact Information:

Prof. Patricia A. West

authorpatwest@gmail.com

MOUNT HOPE CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1875

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Mount Hope Cemetery, located in Martinsburg, West Virginia, holds a significant place in the local community and in the broader history of African Americans in the region. Founded in the late 19th century, Mount Hope became the final resting place for many prominent African Americans who played pivotal roles in the community.

The cemetery served as a burial ground for formerly enslaved individuals, Civil War veterans, prominent community leaders, and ordinary citizens. It stands as a testament to the resilience and strength of the African American community in the face of adversity. Many notable individuals are buried at Mount Hope Cemetery, including veterans of the Civil War and other conflicts, as well as prominent local figures such as educators, business leaders, and civil rights activists. Their graves serve as reminders of the contributions African Americans have made to the local community and to the broader history of the United States.

Mount Hope Cemetery is not just a burial ground; it is a place of remembrance and reflection, where the stories of those who came before us are preserved for future generations. Its significance to the local community and to black history cannot be overstated, making it a site of great importance and reverence.

BCN Contact Information:

Devin Dozier

mthopecemeterywv@gmail.com

GREENLAWN CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1821/1822

ADDITONAL NAMES: Eleven Stadium, Burying Ground, Old Burying Ground, Union Cemetery, City Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S):

• Indiana Landmarks Black Heritage Preservation Program

HISTORY:

Abandoned, neglected, and built upon for generations, the approximately 4-acre tract is known as the “Old Burying Ground”. This was a segregated cemetery designated for African Americans and poor Euro- Americans. In total, it encompassed 25 acres, with the White River forming the boundary next to the Old Burying Ground, where the African American citizens were buried. The cemetery was closed to new burials in the 1870s.

In 1894, the city passed an ordinance was declaring the Greenlawn Cemetery and tracts adjacent to it a public nuisance. The ordinance described the area as falling into a state of decay and neglect. This led to the removal of fencing, vegetation, of uninterred corpses, and other contents of the vaults. The vaults were destroyed. Soon the Greenlawn Cemetery was abandoned and those bodies which were not washed away or damaged by industrialization are still there.

Today the city is investing in a new “Sports Complex", and part of that development will include building a new bridge to span the White River, called the Henry Street Bridge. The footings for this bridge will be on top of the Old Burying Ground, where the Black settlers were interred. We are advocating for this to be rectified by an intentional mitigation before construction begins.

BCN Contact Information:

Indiana Remembrance Coalitiion

haselnuss132@gmail.com

Www.indianalandmarks.org

UNION BETHEL CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1831

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S):

• Lower Township Historic Preservation Commission

HISTORY:

By the early 1800's, there was a community of free Blacks, and most likely some escaped enslaved people, located in a rural wooded area. Most members of the community were farmers and some had been formerly enslaved. A group of trustees approached a farm owner to purchase land to build a church to serve this community. In 1831, land was conveyed "that they shall erect and build...a house or place of worship for the use of the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church" and later "burying ground for Coloured people." A church was built but is no longer standing.

The earliest burial in the cemetery was in 1834 and the latest in 1947. Over the years, various groups have participated in efforts to restore the cemetery and preserve it. In 2018, the Lower Township Historic Preservation Commission took over the care of the cemetery and are the caretakers today. The cemetery is notable for the 16 veterans of the Civil War, 15 of whom served in the US Colored Troops and one in the Navy as well as one veteran who served in both WWI and WWII.

BCN Contact Information:

Lower Township Historic Preservation Commission

Pary Tell

parytell@gmail.com

REST HILL CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1867 - 1869

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

The Rest Hill Cemetery on Trousdale Ferry Pike in Lebanon, Tennessee was included on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992 for its significance in the African American community during the Reconstruction Era. Established in 1867-69, the burials reflect the original African American community in Lebanon which grew with the assistance of the Freedman's Bureau and the racial segregation of the Jim Crow period. Rest Hill served as the only African American burial ground in Lebanon from 1869-1933 when African American were banned from burial in the city cemetery. To this day, Rest Hill still serves the community.

Our goal is to put head stones on all the unmarked graves.

BCN Contact Information:

Harry Watkins

wccl5353@gmail.com

MACEDONIA AFRICAN METHODIST CHURCH CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1880

ADDITONAL NAMES: Warsaw AME cemetery

AFFILIATION(S):

• Johns Creek Historical Society

HISTORY:

THE CEMETERY

Hidden up a steep winding driveway near one of the busiest intersections in the City of Johns Creek, Georgia is a small African-American cemetery. The Macedonia African Methodist Church Cemetery (also known as Warsaw AME cemetery) is known to be the burial place of at least two who were enslaved and others who were first and second generation descendants of slaves on local farms. The cemetery has been abandoned for years and is in need of headstone repairs, identification of unmarked graves, and research to learn about those buried on the site.

The Johns Creek Historical Society involvement- Several years ago, the Johns Creek Historical Society took on the project of preserving and improving the cemetery by working with the City and by researching those buried at the site. This project is led by Board Member Kirk Canaday.

Our efforts follow those of others. In 1998, the Warsaw Historic Preservation Society was formed and through their efforts, Fulton County obtained a maintenance easement to the property. The group also tried to have an overlay historic district formed for the area surrounding the intersection of Medlock and State Bridge roads. In 2016, Preserve Johns Creek contracted an archaeological survey by New South Associates that mapped marked graves and potential unmarked graves.

BCN Contact Information:

Johns Creek Historical Society

info@johnscreekhistory.org

johnscreekhistory.org

UNION CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1900

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S):

• Ujima Union Cemetery Project

HISTORY:

Union Cemetery, named in honor of the two dozen veterans of the Civil War who are buried here, was established in 1900 by Carlisle resident Robert Thompson, Sr. (1828-1900). Thompson was one of the most prominent African-Americans in central Pennsylvania during his day. From his birth, an enslaved person, in Front Royal, VA to his death in his home on Carlisle's South Street, Thompson lived the unique life of an entrepreneur who owned a large amount of property and businesses in the Carlisle and Harrisburg areas. The land for the cemetery was purchased in the 1890s after Lincoln Cemetery, located at the corner of North Pitt Street and West Penn Street, became full. Upon Mr. Thompson's death, several generations of the Thompson family managed the site before it was taken over by the Borough of Carlisle, which still maintains the cemetery. The earliest gravestone is dated 1885. Union Cemetery follows one of the earliest burial customs by burying everyone facing east.

BCN Contact Information:

Ujima Union Cemetery Project

sigvoice@aol.com

https://www.facebook.com/friendsofUnionCemetery

ENSLAVED BURIAL GROUND CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1850s

ADDITONAL NAMES: Slave Burial Ground in Old Round Rock Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

The Old Round Rock Cemetery was founded through land purchases in the mid-1850s with one-half acre to reserve for a the enslaved and freedmen of Round Rock, TX. In 1979 the Texas Historical Commission designated (with a historical marker) the half-acre portion of the cemetery known as the "Slave Burial Ground in Old Round Rock Cemetery”.

Text on the marker

Near the gravesite of outlaw Sam Bass, one-half acre of Old Round Rock Cemetery was set aside for slave burials. Enclosed by cedar posts and barbed wire, sites are marked head and foot with large limestone rocks. Some rocks are hand-grooved with names and dates. White graves here are dated as early as 1851. The first marked grave of a freed slave is dated 1880. Although there are 40 to 50 known burial sites of freedmen and the burial ground is still in use, no interments of former slaves occurred after the turn of the century. (1979)

BCN Contact Information:

Richard Southwick

richard.southwick@gmail.com

HERNANDO COMMUNITY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1982

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Hernando Community Cemetery is one of two in Hernando, Citrus County Florida that bears the name. This Hernando Cemetery is an active Black cemetery. The first burials in this cemetery were in 1982. This cemetery is well maintained, and the gravestones are in very good condition.

BCN Contact Information:

Thomas Bowen

capttcb035@gmail.com

OLD CANAAN FREEDOM COLONY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: Pre-1865

ADDITONAL NAMES: Canaan Missionary Baptist Church

AFFILIATION(S):

• Canaan Baptist Church Cemetery Association

HISTORY:

The Old Canaan cemetery site was one of the original burial sites for the Texas Freedom Colony established immediately after slavery ended in 1865. The cemetery along with a church and school were established in 1870 and included a thriving, self-sufficient farming and ranching community.

In about 1935 nightriders, also known as Klansmen, burned the Canaan-Rosenwald Elementary School and threatened to burn the Canaan Church down if they would not move. Due to these threats and pressure, the church and school were relocated about a half mile south of the original location.

The cemetery is now on private property, and we have been working for several years to reclaim the site.

BCN Contact Information:

Earnol Brewster

ebrewster1906@gmail.com

FRATERNAL MEMORIAL PARK

FOUNDED: 1928

ADDITONAL NAMES: Grasselli, Memorial Park, Fraternal Park, and Mount Zion

AFFILIATION(S):

• Historic Clarksburg WV Cemetery Preservation Alliance

HISTORY:

Although little information on the cemetery is available it is known that it was utilized for predominately African Americans and burials began in 1928 and continued through to the last known burial in 1978. Other information obtained concerning the cemetery consists of World War I and World War II War veterans buried in the Cemetery Upon investigation of the Cemetery Headstones and additional research from the WV death indexes database (West Virginia Department of Arts, Vital Research Records Search Selection, 2018), HRC identified a total of seven men that are World War I veterans that are buried within The Fraternal

Memorial Cemetery. HRC identified one man that may be a World War II veteran and we have identified his draft card. In addition, his death certificate was checked in the veteran box, but the war was not named. An additional four men were found to have draft registration cards from fold3 (Ancestry, 2018) military database and The National Archives online database (Administration, n.d.). The four individuals with draft cards could not be definitively concluded that they went to War.

BCN Contact Information:

Shaun Jedju

ShaunMJedju@hcwvcpa.org

www.hcwvcpa.org

ESSIE J HANDY MEMORIAL CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1949

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Elisha and Essie Handy came to La Fayette in 1925. They were educators and active in civic and religious activities. In 1940 their oldest son, Ralph, died from tuberculosis and was buried in the only cemetery in La Fayette for African-Americans at the time. Mrs. Handy went throughout the community asking for contributions to purchase land from Judge Grady for a new African-American cemetery. In 1949 she had her son's body exhumed and transferred to the new community cemetery bearing her name. Mrs. Handy led a prolific life. In 1945 she became the first African-American to vote in Chambers County and she was recognized as a Civil Rights leader in the area. Mrs. Handy met with President Lyndon B. Johnson and was invited to his Inauguration in 1965. Mrs. Handy privately operated the cemetery until her death in 1977. Subsequently, the cemetery was deeded to the City of Lafayette who recognized Mrs. Handy for her achievements and impact on the community. Listed in the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register on October 17, 2018

BCN Contact Information:

Albert Handy

aehandy@gmail.com

ZION HILL CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1868

ADDITONAL NAMES: Zion Hill Colored Baptist Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S):

• Preserve & Serve Georgia Inc

HISTORY:

Zion Hill Cemetery, a historic African American Baptist Burial Site, was established in 1868 as a “colored cemetery” for the Zion Hill Colored Baptist Church in Monroe, Georgia shortly after the Civil War. Land was purchased by former enslaved man Cyrus Briscoe from his former enslaver, Waters Briscoe. Cyrus sold a portion of the land to church trustees. Church records indicate in 1868, a log cabin was built for use as the “Colored People Church.” In 1870, a wooden structure was built next to the log cabin. The church changed its name to Zion Hill Colored Baptist Church. After a few months, about 20 church members pulled away and formed the Tabernacle Baptist Church. In 1949, Zion Hill Church reunited with the Tabernacle Baptist Church under the name, First African Baptist Church. The church divided in 1953, and the First African Baptist Church and Tabernacle Baptist Church moved to new locations, abandoning the Zion Hill Cemetery site and leaving it vulnerable.

BCN Contact Information:

Elizabeth Jones

preserveandservegeorgiainc@gmail.com

https://www.zionhillcemetery.com

RUBY FAMILY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1828

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S):

• Durham Historical Society

• Durham Historic District Committee

HISTORY:

The Ruby Family Cemetery, established in 1828, is located in Durham, Maine. It is the family cemetery of Samuel Ruby and his family, the first African American family to live in Durham, Maine.

In the 1800's, Durham was one of the few Maine towns to have a black preacher. Reverend Samuel Ruby and his family lived on the edge of town. Samuel was the brother of Portland's famous stagecoach driver and abolitionist Reuben Ruby (founding member of the Abyssinian Meeting House).

BCN Contact Information:

Emily Alexander

brown.bag.seminars@gmail.com

https://www.durhamhistoricalsociety.com/

ST. LLOYD PRESBYTERIAN CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1867

ADDITONAL NAMES: Cemetery #1 and Cemetery #2

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

In October 1867, a group of African-American members of Sharon Presbyterian Church, in what was then known as Sharon Township in Charlotte, NC, appeared before the Church Elders. According to minutes of that Session, these members requested "advice and aid in building a house of worship for the colored people." Though the names of the petitioners and the church they wished to establish are not in the church's minutes, it is believed that these African-American members were the subsequent founders of St. Lloyd Presbyterian Church.

The church moved to a new location in Grier Heights after the SouthPark land was sold to Sarah and Cameron Morrison, who had been governor of North Carolina, around 1926. At this time the five trustees were James Rodman, Hall Price, Thomas Knox, Walter Davis and Frank Price for Lloyd Presbyterian Church. A second church and cemetery was formed on 2 acres plus from E.W Wallace and Katie C. Wallace when it was possible for blacks to own land at the Grier Heights location. The Wallace's were members of the Colony Road church who had become landowners in Mecklenburg County.  Over time, as church members merged with other local congregations, the church building at cemetery #2 was removed in the mid-1970th. 

Today what remains of the church are these two cemeteries: one in SouthPark and one in Grier Heights. The foundation, representing Grier Heights and SouthPark residents, will ensure the long-term care and preservation of these historic sites, continuing the legacy for future generations.

BCN Contact Information:

St. Lloyd Presbyterian Cemetery Foundation, Inc.

Wayne Johnson

wayne@waynejohnsonproperties.com

HOPEWELL CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1891, but likely before

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Hopewell Cemetery is an abandoned African-American cemetery located on a wooded and eroding land tract that also includes the likely site of the first Anglo-American trading post and steamboat port used by early settlers, native Caddo Indians, and free and enslaved African-Americans. Multiple land owners own the land, and the City of Shreveport has directed storm water runoff to empty in the wooded area. Several graves are broken, open, and not documented, and very difficult to survey/document due to the elevation and vegetation. There have many several parties interested in cleaning it up, and we've trimmed sections of it up here and there, but it needs a lot of support to truly restore the cemetery / potentially relocate some graves to higher ground. Dr. Gary Joiner at LSU-Shreveport believes there are likely earlier graves there and many more than have been documented thus far. There are two WWI veterans buried there and several members of one or two families who were instrumental in the Stoner Hill neighborhood of Shreveport.

BCN Contact Information:

Friends of the Coates Bluff Nature Trail

info@coatesbluff.org

coatesbluff.org

GOD’S ACRE CEMETERY

FOUNDED: Sometime prior to 1867

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

BCN Contact Information:

Friends of Robert Lewis

1892RobertLewis@gmail.com

Crystal Memorial Gardens Cemetery

FOUNDED: 1880s

ADDITONAL NAMES: Crystal River African-American Memorial Gardens

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Crystal Memorial Gardens is a historic cemetery and was formerly known as Crystal River African American Memorial Gardens. Crystal Memorial Gardens cemetery was originally belonged to Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church, which was founded on October 4, 1884. Mt. Olive MBC is the oldest black church and the second oldest church in Citrus County, Florida.

Mt. Olive Missionary MBC deeded the Crystal Memorial Gardens Cemetery to the "Community" in 1976.  A community-based Board of Directors was created to operate the cemetery that is still in place today.

BCN Contact Information:

Andrea K. McCray

friendsofcmgcemetery@gmail.com

friendsofcmgcemetery.com

LANDON ROAD CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1904

ADDITONAL NAMES: Landon Colored Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Landon Road Cemetery is located on the Bernard Bayou in the Side Camp Community. Records indicate the burial ground was established in the late 1800s with the last confirmed burial being 1967. The cemetery is the final resting place of many African Americans who lived in the unincorporated northwest area of Harrison County.

Many of those interred at Landon Road Cemetery laid the foundation of what the Mississippi Gulf Coast is today. They worked in the lumber, shipping, and railroad industries. The cemetery itself is situated on property which was once owned by the Gulf & Ship Island Railroad and used as a turpentine still where multiple employees labored through extremely harsh working conditions and often died while doing so. Many of these workers and their families purchased plots and were buried at Landon Road Cemetery.

Today, the cemetery is hidden from public view. It lies deep within a wooded area on private property. The landowner is not willing to allow family members to visit or to clear a path to the cemetery for restoration purposes. As a result, the cemetery is in danger of being lost forever. Research shows there are approximately 100 known graves in the cemetery with at least 5 veteran headstones present.

BCN Contact Information:

Mariam May-Clayton

savingmscemeteries@gmail.com