Green Hill Historic African American Cemetery

Oct 13

Site Brief:

Founded: 1872

Location: Martinsburg, WV

Additional name(s): N/A

Affiliate group(s): N/A

History:

In September, 2017, a group of Martinsburg, West Virginia residents formed a committee to look into the possibility of restoring the long abandoned Green Hill African American Cemetery. This .6 acre site is adjacent to Green Hill Cemetery, referred to as the "White Cemetery" as African Americans were not permitted to be buried there. Over the years, our site had been used as dumping area for their landscaping debris and it was generally used as a community dumping ground, with trash and discarded appliances. It was completely overgrown. In December of that year, a small group of volunteers met at the site to start work. Some 300 trees were cut down together with stumps that have been pulled and hauled away. On November 21, 2020, a dedication was held to acknowledge those buried there.

Since that time, volunteers have continued to maintain the landscaping, add improvements. Benches have been added, a stone cross has been placed on the site, a sign has been erected and the group has been established as a 501c(3) organization. Thanks to fund raising and local grants, a survey was done and determined that this plot of land did not convey to the Green Cemetery when the land was originally purchased for their cemetery in 1854. The surveyors uncovered a record from 1872 where a group of African Americans purchased the plot for $100 and became the original trustees. Our group retained a lawyer and it was discovered through a state statute that if we were able to find five descendants of an individual buried in the cemetery, we could petition the court to name new trustees. This was successfully done and we now have six trustees to oversee the continuing establishment of our cemetery. We are aware there are two lynching victims in the cemetery and it was the descendants of one of them, Joe Burns, which allowed this to be accomplished. We are continuing to make improvements, including having ground penetrating radar done, which located 225 graves, 20 of infants and children. We have raised funds to erect a fence between the two cemeteries.