PINEY GROVE CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1820s

ADDITONAL NAMES: Historic Piney Grove Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

Piney Grove Cemetery, located at 834 Canterbury Road, is the last remaining historic landmark of Piney Grove, a former African-American community that likely dates back to the mid-1820s. Located in Buckhead, a predominately white wealthy area of Atlanta, the cemetery has over 300 graves, some of which hold the remains of formerly enslaved people, who helped build Atlanta. Oral history accounts state burials have occurred in the cemetery since the mid- 1800s and headstones, now obscured by vegetation, mark graves of individuals born before the Emancipation Proclamation. This sacred site is also a historically significant landmark for Atlanta and has been determined to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

The church building for Piney Grove Missionary Baptist Church was demolished after it suffered storm damage in 1996. Today, although original headstones remain intact, the cemetery is tragically unrecognizable and inaccessible due to overgrowth of vegetation. It is bordered by GA 400 on the west and mid-rise condominium development on the north and south. It can be accessed by an easement however lacks any signage. The restoration project will preserve the culture and history embedded in this African American cemetery and will lift the history of an enslaved and post-emancipated people. It will contribute to ensuring that the full history of Buckhead is known and that the memories of the lives of all people are treated with respect and dignity.

BCN Contact Information:

Audrey Collins

audrey.collins@comcast.net

HIGHWAY PARK CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1947

ADDITONAL NAMES: HPCA

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

The Highway Park Cemetery is located in the south end of the unincorporated, predominantly African American community of Highway Park, in Highlands County Florida, about one mile south of the Town of Lake Placid, Florida on U. S. Highway 27. The Highway Park Cemetery Association (HPCA), comprised of a volunteer Board of Directors, manages the affairs of the cemetery.

Documented history of the cemetery's origin is not available, but research is ongoing to uncover this information. The oldest headstone dates back to 1947. However, it is believed that the cemetery was actually established in the 1930's. The Highway Park Cemetery was recently awarded a designation on the National Registry of Historic Places.

BCN Contact Information:

Selvin McGahee

execbro@gmail.com

ALLEN’S TEMPLE AME CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1895

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

According to land records the land was originally purchased on 5 November 1895 by the trustees of Allen Temple AME Church. According to the corner stone, the wooden church structure was Dedicated 27 September 1947. The church property was sold 9 April 1970. The cemetery was not included in this sale and as far as I can tell is still owned by the AME Church. There are many unmarked graves, and I am sure there are some we don’t know about and except for one or two upright stones, this cemetery appears to be an abandoned lot.

When they built the 220 bypass in the 1960’s, it split the local neighborhood. That meant that if you didn’t have a car, it was very hard to get to the church. That along with some threats to fire bomb the church, during the civil rights movement, meant that fewer and fewer people attended. It seems that the church was not closed so much as just slowly died. Genealogies, land records, newspaper articles and maps can be found in the Randolph Room in the Randolph County North Carolina Library.

BCN Contact Information:

Kendra Lyons

klyons@randolphlibrary.org

www.randolphlibrary.org

MT. PLEASANT PLAINS CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1870

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

Mt. Pleasant Plains Cemetery in Washington, D.C., was a Reconstruction Era cemetery owned and operated by the Colored Union Benevolent Association from 1870 to 1890. More than 8,400 people were buried there. About 60 percent of the burials were those of young children under age 5. Among the adults, most came to the District from Virginia and Maryland during and immediately after the Civil War. The Association that owned the burial ground was founded by free Black men in 1838; it was multi-denominational. Mt. Pleasant Plains Cemetery at Walter Pierce Park is a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site because of the Association's ties to the 1848 escape on the schooner Pearl, and because its burials include countless freedom seekers, known and unknown.

In 2005, descendants, allies, and Howard University anthropologists undertook a multi-year archaeological and historical investigation of the site, using non-invasive methods to document and protect the graves that remain. No grave markers are visible at the site. Today, portions of the seven-acre cemetery are occupied by a city park (Walter Pierce Park), the National Zoo, and Rock Creek Park (a national park).

BCN Contact Information:

Mary Belcher

maryjbelcher@comcast.net

walterpierceparkcemeteries.org

NORTH GREENWOOD CEMETERY

FOUNDED: Early 1900's and 1940's

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S):

• Clearwater African American Cemeteries Memorial Committee

HISTORY:

North Greenwood Cemetery is located in Clearwater, FL. The City of Clearwater Commission approved annexation allowing Palmetto Elementary School (opened in 1964) to be built over the North Greenwood Cemetery; this annexation comes after the partial relocation of bodies from St. Matthews Baptist Church Cemetery (located under what is now the CRUM parking lot in Clearwater, FL) to the North Greenwood Cemetery site. Current Ground Truthing performed by Cardno reveals not all bodies were moved.

BCN Contact Information:

Barbara Sorey Love

stpetebulletin@gmail.com

FAIRVIEW CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1858

ADDITONAL NAMES: New Hope Cemetery (an expansion of Fairview Cemetery)

AFFILIATION(S):

• Clay County African American Legacy

HISTORY:

In 1858, the city of Liberty established Fairview Cemetery. As was common at the time, a “less desirable” area of the cemetery was designated for the burial of those of African descent. In this 6 acre plot of land, there are over 750 confirmed Black people buried but it is estimated that there are over 1,000. Most persons went from cradle to grave in segregation, with the injustice following them into their burial. The cemetery is on a piece of land that slopes from west to east and the segregated burial ground is at the bottom of the incline, backing right up to a creek. Because of this, the land continues to suffer from flooding and erosion, and the secluded area made it a prime target for grave robbing and vandalism. Persons who were enslaved, domestic staff, day laborers, housewives, infants and children, businessmen, war veterans, and more are buried in this hallowed ground. There are some headstones scattered throughout, but most are for more recent burials. While it is likely temporary place markers were left at the time of burial, the majority of the graves are without a headstone. The Black members of the community were essential to building the town of Liberty, and during segregation, they established their own businesses, churches, and the only school in the area available for children of African descent. These individuals are buried in mostly unmarked graves and we are working together as a community to honor them in their final resting place.

BCN Contact Information:

Jaclyn Kaiser

info@libertylegacymemorial.org

www.libertylegacymemorial.org

MOUNT CARMEL CEMETERY

FOUNDED: mid-1800's

ADDITONAL NAMES: Mount Carmel A.M.E. Church

AFFILIATION(S):

• No national or local groups, but Pasco County is responsible for several historic cemeteries.

HISTORY:

Mount Carmel African Methodist Episcopal Church and cemetery served the historically black community that worked at the Ehren Pine Company sawmill. The congregation folded sometime after the Great Depression and members joined other local churches.

There are many unmarked graves here and the date of the first burial is unknown. Although it is believed that the cemetery dates back to the mid-1800s, the first marked grave is 1903 and the latest is 1954.

In 2006, the Pasco County Black Caucus, in cooperation with the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners and other concerned individuals, initiated efforts to provide recognition and perpetual care of this site.

BCN Contact Information:

Andrew Baxter

abaxter@pascocountyfl.net

pascocountyfl.net

GEER CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1877

ADDITONAL NAMES: City Cemetery, Ferrell Road Cemetery

AFFILIATION(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.

BCN Contact Information:

Debra T Gonzalez

taylorgg.dl@gmail.com

friendsofgeercemetery.org (under construction)

ST. MATTHEWS BAPTIST CHURCH CEMETERY

FOUNDED: Early 1900s - 1940s

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S):

• Clearwater African American Cemeteries Memorial Committee

HISTORY:

St. Matthew Baptist Church Cemetery (located under the CRUM parking lot in Clearwater, Florida) was created in Clearwater Heights. The community is no longer viable, however the City of Clearwater Commission approved an annexation allowing construction over the cemetery to make way for Montgomery Wards department store in the early 1960's. All bodies were supposed to have been relocated to the cemetery in North Greenwood; however, as current Cardno ground truthing has proven, many bodies are still buried on the site. The City of Clearwater Commission also approved annexation allowing Palmetto Elementary School (also in Clearwater, FL) to be built over the North Greenwood Cemetery. Palmetto Elementary opened its doors in 1964. Current Ground Truthing performed by Cardno reveals not all bodies were moved.

BCN Contact Information:

Barbara Sorey Love

stpetebulletin@gmail.com

FREDRICK DOUGLAS CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1827

ADDITONAL NAMES: Douglas

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

There are records showing 2000 buried at Douglas but only 650 graves with headstones. Most of the people buried at Fredrick Douglas were born into slavery. The last burial took place in 1975. This cemetery has been neglected over the past 100 years. There are apartment buildings built close to the graves and flooding is a big issue when it rains. The cemetery was renamed in 1896 after Fredrick Douglas.

BCN Contact Information:

Michael Johnson

michael.johnson@alexandriava.gov

SocialResponsibilityGroup.org

LINCOLN CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1926

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S):

• Lincoln Cemetery Society

HISTORY:

Lincoln Cemetery served as the main burial ground for St. Petersburg's black population from the year it opened in 1926 and throughout the segregation era. Veterans as far back as the U.S. Civil War are buried here, as well as notable civic historical figures. From years of neglect, the cemetery fell into deplorable condition. The Lincoln Cemetery Society Inc. has been established to change that. We hope you feel as compelled as we do to explore and preserve the cemetery's rich history!

BCN Contact Information:

http://www.lincolncemeterysociety.org/

PERSONS OF COLOR CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1816

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

Established ca. 1816 exclusively for the use of the area’s black population, the Persons of Color Cemetery at Kinderhook is a historically significant resource that illuminates an important and underrepresented aspect of this early Dutch-settled village’s history. The land on which this burial ground was established was willed for this purpose by John Rogers, a native of Ireland who came to Kinderhook ca. 1795. Rogers recognized the need for a place of repose for Kinderhook’s African-Americans and willed the property, one rood of land, to serve as “a cemetery for the people of colour in said Town ok Kinderhook to be used for that purpose and none other.” The Persons of Color Cemetery was in use for burials until ca. 1861, when it was closed due to lack of space for further interments. A 1914 account indicated that it was used until “every available inch was taken up.” Archeological studies estimate that there may be more than 500 sets of remains on the property. The Persons of Color Cemetery is located adjacent to the village park, Rothermel Park, and contains 15 headstones, 11 of which have legible names and dates of birth and/or death. The cemetery is now listed with the National Register of Historic Sites, as well as the New York State Register of Historic Places, and was formally re-consecrated during a ceremony held on May 13, 2017. The restoration and preservation of the cemetery has been a community effort. The property has been fenced with donated sections of 19th-century wrought-iron fencing, interspersed with planters that are maintained by the Kinderhook Garden Club. The park where the cemetery is located is an active gathering place for the community; village ballfields are located here and the Empire State Trail has a trailhead in the park, ensuring that many walkers and bikers pass by the cemetery. Local residents, as well as many visitors, stop by to read the historic site sign as well as the interpretative sign financed by the Pomeroy Foundation. The Village is currently establishing walking tours and brochures featuring the Persons of Color Cemetery. This site is open every day of the year between dawn and dusk.

BCN Contact Information:

Dale Leiser, Mayor of the Village of Kinderhook

okvillagehall@villageofkinderhook.org

LUTHERAN BENEVOLENT SOCIETY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1898

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

Lutheran Benevolent Society Cemetery in Baton Rouge.

According to an item in an 1880 New Orleans newspaper, the Lutheran Benevolent Society in Baton Rouge was established in 1858. It obtained a charter in 1872 with one of the organization’s incorporators being a member of an African American family that has been prominent for many generations and lent leadership to the Baton Rouge community. Beverly Victor Baranco was a signee of the newly organized 1872 Lutheran Benevolent Society domiciled in Baton Rouge Louisiana. Although Martin Luther was a ‘hero’ to protestant churches and many followed his Lutheran religion, Benevolent Societies so named, were unaffiliated with any specific religion or church, particularly the Lutheran Church. The 1872 Lutheran Benevolent Society was organized as a mutual aid society to provide help and services to its members after the Civil War when the traditional help from the plantation system was no longer available. Using the same 1872 charter, on May 9, 1898 the Lutheran Benevolent Society re-organized and re-registered with the Louisiana Secretary of State. The following year on December 9, 1898, the Lutheran Benevolent Society purchased a tract of land of more or less six acres from William Garig. This original land purchase forms the present day footprint of the historic Lutheran Cemetery. Almost 40 years later, the Society’s legal status was inactive ... so, once again in its long history and again using the same charter, the Lutheran Benevolent Society was again re-organized and re-registered with the Secretary of State in 1935. Today, the cemetery is cared for through the kindness of strangers.

BCN Contact Information:

Lillie P. Gallagher

LilliePetit@gmail.com

MACEDONIA ENSLAVE/NATIVE CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1818

ADDITONAL NAMES: Old Macedonia Cemetery Morven, Georgia

AFFILIATION(S):

• Macedonia Community Foundation, Inc

HISTORY:

The Macedonia Slave/Native Cemetery dates back to 1818 when settlers moved into the Wiregrass Territories now identified as Brooks, Lowndes, Thomas and other counties. Oral and physical history documents tombstones and burial crypts from that era up to the early 1930's. These enslaved are the ones who built the historic Coffee Road and maintained the huge plantations during the Civil War era. The Coffee Road was the main road of travel to Florida. The enslaved, Andrew Jackson I and Romeo Wilson I who eventually purchased this property owned a grist mill and established a way station here where The Federal Colored Troops Company G 103 Regiment encamped to protect the Freedmen after the Civil war. They are buried here together with at least 100 other enslaved family and friends.

BCN Contact Information:

Fannie Marie Jackson Gibbs

fmjgibbs@gmail.com

HELPING HAND CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1897

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

Helping Hand Cemetery was deeded to five African-American Trustees in 1897 "for the sole purpose of establishing a cemetery for colored people" in Courtland, Virginia. Before this; however, according to records of some descendants, there were people interred at this graveyard site during and post slavery. Originally called The Courtland Colored Cemetery, the name was changed in 1912 to Helping Hand along with the establishment of a benevolent organization acting as a health and welfare club accepting 20 cents a month from community members, and paying out sick, unemployment, and death benefits. We are currently in possession of ledger books from 1918 - 1995 that lists the names of the community members who joined this club.

Descendants of these original trustees, came together in 2016 to form a new Helping Hand Trustee Board determined to return the cemetery to its original historical significance and beauty. The Town of Courtland itself has received historical significance based on the history and progress of African-Americans in this segregated town, the town where Nat Turner was tried and killed three blocks from our cemetery. Eligibility for a series of grants has enabled us to restore and maintain the cemetery consisting of approximately 650 interred.

BCN Contact Information:

Dolores Peterson, Trustee/Historian Helping Hand Cemetery Club

dvlp13@yahoo.com

BETHLEHEM METHODIST EPISCOPAL CEMETERY (AL06910)

FOUNDED: 1873

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S):

• FPAN CRPT Alliance

HISTORY:

Bethlehem Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery were established in 1873, when Rev. Major Reddick donated one acre of land to Romeo Reddick, Rinaldo Reddick, Major Reddick, Henry Peterson, Adam Moulton, Richard Doby and Arthur Haynes, trustees. The land was part of a parcel awarded to Reddick through the 1862 Homestead Act. Archer, originally called Deer Hammock, became an economic hub for local plantations, especially after the cross-Florida railroad was built in the 1850s. Sen. David Levy Yulee’s Cottonwood was the most well known of these plantations. At least 25 African Americans who had once been enslaved were interred in the cemetery. Elbert McKinney Sr., born in 1829 in South Carolina, was buried here. McKinney, an enslaved blacksmith at Cottonwood, daily blew a ram’s horn to call the enslaved laborers to work. Ellen Lawrence, born ~1796 and died at the age of 88 in 1884, has the earliest marked grave in the cemetery. James Dansey homesteaded 39.98 acres to the east of Reddick’s donation, but sold the parcel to Rev. Frank Dansey in 1881. Dansey, founder of St. Joseph’s Missionary Baptist Church, began to use 1.28 acres nearest the Reddick donation for burials. Rev. Dansey was buried here in 1911.

BCN Contact Information:

Florida Public Archaeology Network, Central Region

snrudolph@usf.edu

https://bmecro.wordpress.com/

HENRY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1841

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

The Henry Cemetery is located east of Highway Z, approximately one mile south of the village of Reger in Sullivan County, Missouri. The area in which the Henry Cemetery is located was known as the Main Locust Settlement, noted by several histories as the earliest part of the county to be populated. The Henry Cemetery is on the National Register of Historic Places. It represents some of the pioneer families of Sullivan County. Though no towns or even churches were located near the cemetery during its formation Henry Cemetery is in many ways a community burial ground. The two-acre cemetery contains approximately 200 historic (pre-1955) graves, though several unmarked graves and recent burials are scattered throughout the cemetery. Gravestones within the Henry Cemetery date from 1841 to present day. Henry Cemetery is an example of neighbors banding together to provide for the needs of a community or group. Death is an inevitable part of life, and burial grounds were some of the first permanent markers of early settlement.

Though the slave population was relatively small in Sullivan County, at least two families associated with the cemetery were slaveholders. Robert Henry was born in Franklin County, Missouri. In the 1880 census, Robert Henry (no apparent relation to Thomas Henry) is listed as a single, African American, servant in the household of Joel DeWitt. Robert Henry died in 1883 and has a gravestone over his burial place. Oral tradition is that there are unmarked burials of slaves (or former slaves) in the cemetery. There are future plans to conduct a ground penetration radar survey to locate unmarked burials.

BCN Contact Information:

Glenda Richey

gsrichey@comcast.net

MOSIER VALLEY COMMUNITY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1865

ADDITONAL NAMES: Moses Valley, Moshier Valley

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

What was at one time the Lee Family farm is a 4 acres tract of land donated to the Mosier Valley community to the now freed slaves. The Lee Family didn't have enough slaves to be called a plantation. So the farm where over 50 slaves worked, the Family donated the land after they received the word in Texas that slavery had been abolished.

The community had come together to this high spot in the county after so many freed slaves had lost their land due to flooding. Many of them from the Mosier Plantation. The community remained the oldest black community in the state up until the 90s. Today most of the land has become encroached with industrial. The last stronghold is the community cemetery that only allow descendants through 4 generations to be buried there.

BCN Contact Information:

Benny Tucker

Anobletucker@gmail.com

MCDONOGHVILLE CEMETERY

FOUNDED: Early 1800's

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S):

• Westside Cemetery Preservation Association

HISTORY:

McDonoghville Cemetery is a cemetery for the enslaved and formerly enslaved. It has been maintained under various jurisdictions; none of which based appear to be the legal owner(s) of the cemetery. McDonoghville Cemetery, originally a slave burial ground, was segregated in the early 1890's, as it was integrated between 1850-1890. Today it is unclear where the burials of the enslaved and formerly enslaved are located, even though the cemetery is still in use today and is maintained. 

The history of this cemetery as a slave burial ground is recorded in historical documents, yet the Jefferson Parish Historical Society sponsored a state marker in 2016 which omitted this history. Currently, I am working with a professor at the University of New Orleans who is including this cemetery in a cultural resource class that is currently being taught in the hopes of sponsoring a state marker that will address this omitted history. Also, this cemetery is rift with corruption that took place at the level of local governance allowing private business owners to violate the law, with notices of violations issued that were never enforced. This and other activities stemming from for profit activities associated with this cemetery have adversely impacted my family’s property inclusive of a false arrest in what is believed to have been an attempted land grab. A photojournalist is involved in documenting this and can be contacted if there is any media interest. Legal assistance may be needed in this matter.

BCN Contact Information:

Joan K. Garner

garner.empowerment@gmail.com

GABRIEL CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1902

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S):

• Gabriel Cemetery Association, Inc.

HISTORY:

Gabriel is the oldest African American cemetery in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The cemetery's history is not completely known, but it is believed to have been founded in the 1800's. That belief is based on an existing headstone displaying the recorded internment date of 1902. There are graves that do not have headstones or identifying markers; some have given way due to years of natural erosion. The cemetery contains an array of traditional burial elements, which range from simple to more decorative markers, as well as vaults and slabs.

As of 2022 there is a total of 1,144 recorded burials which consists of (567) unmarked and (577) recorded burials. Gabriel Cemetery's historical addings continues with a rich history of military veterans totalling 70 whom have served in wars from WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Korea, and more. This is to include civil rights activists who made major changes in Pascagoula, Jackson County and on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. There has been an updated listing of plots completed by Researcher/ Project Director Anne' McMillion in April of 2021 to better identify the unmarked and recorded graves.

BCN Contact Information:

H.A.N.A.P. LLC

h.a.n.a.p.consult@gmail.com

https://gabrielcemetery.wixsite.com/gcainc