GEER CEMETERY
Site Brief:
Founded: 1877
Location: Durham, NC
Additional name(s): City Cemetery, Ferrell Road Cemetery
Affiliate group(s):
Friends of Geer Cemetery
History:
Geer Cemetery is in Durham, NC. The earliest origins of Geer date to a deed dated March 28, 1877, which documents the sale of the land to John O’Daniel, Nelson Mitchell, and Willis Moore from Frederick and Polly Geer. Two additional deeds have been found purchasing additional land. These deeds contain additional names as the purchasers leading to the speculation that there was some type of organization that was xx the cemetery. The cemetery was initially in Orange County and became part of Durham County when Durham County was created in 1881. Geer Cemetery was an active burial ground until the 1930s. Of the three largest cemeteries created by African American in the late 1800s, it is the only one that has not been affected by urban development. There are over 2,000 burials at Geer Cemetery there are many life stories to tell. The people in Geer Cemetery were ministers, entrepreneurs, business owners, educators, laborers, professionals, and more. Many of the early burials were people who had been enslaved and settled in Durham to work in the tobacco industry. Many of these early settlers were landowners, creating the Hayti township within Durham. Hayti became the social and cultural center of Durham’s African American community and a model for self-sufficient African American communities in the South.
