SITE DIRECTORY
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God's Acre
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
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
BARBEE-HARGRAVES CEMETERY
BARBEE-HARGRAVES CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1790
ADDITONAL NAMES: Town of Chapel Hill
AFFILIATION(S): N/A
HISTORY:
The cemetery was in use from 1790 until 1915 for African American burials, predominantly slaves of the Morgan, Barbee, and Hargrave families and their descendants. Mark Morgan is known to have owned six slaves in 1755 named Rafe, James, Nell, Cate, Jude, and Cloe. By 1777, in the inventory of his estate, he owned 22 slaves. Since at this time slaves were inheritable property, it is likely that these enslaved laborers became property of Mark Morgan’s son Hardy. As Hardy Morgan acquired additional land grants, adding to his father’s property, he may have also acquired more slaves. The majority of the graves likely belong to these African American slaves or their descendants. There is some possibility that the cemetery was used for white burials as well.
Few of the graves are identified, but oral history tradition and interviews conducted with Hargrave descendants indicate that George Hargrove, who died in 1910, and his wife, Charlotte Hargrove, are buried in the Barbee-Hargrave cemetery. There are also stories of an engraved headstone that read “Thomas” and “1805.” It was estimated before ground penetrating radar that there were about 40 to 50 graves in the cemetery.
In May 2011, the Town of Chapel Hill Department of Parks and Recreation contracted Preservation Chapel Hill to conduct research on the cemetery and ensure its preservation. PCH worked with Scott Seibel and Terri Russ of Environmental Services, Inc., to locate and record possible unmarked grave shafts. Through the use of these methods, Seibel and Russ found that there were 53 potential burials, 24 of which had a stone marker while 29 had no observable markers. Most of the potential graves were located in noticeable rows, making them more certain.
BCN Contact Information:
Debra Lane
DLANE@TOWNOFCHAPELHILL.ORG