Quarter Place Cemetery
Site Brief:
Founded: 1794
Location: Brookneal, VA
Additional name(s): Patrick Henry's Red Hill
Affiliate group(s): None
History:
The Quarter Place Cemetery is nestled at the end of a half-mile trail at Patrick Henry’s Red Hill. Spanning generations since 1794, there have been 147 graves identified in the one-acre space. To the local community, this is a sacred burial ground. Many of those buried there also had family members buried in the local African American church cemeteries. As a plantation cemetery, this space contains yucca plants, periwinkle, as well as field stones to mark the graves. It has been so secluded, many of the grave-shaft depressions are still visible. In an archaeological survey completed in 2019, there was found a spot near the middle of the cemetery in which no graves lie, indicating that the burials were planned as a sacred place for the black community to gather. Through genealogical research efforts, it is evident that many descendants of those interred at the cemetery still reside nearby. This site is critical to showing African American resilience, familial ties, and culture in Southside Virginia—a place where very few non-church, black cemeteries remain.
