SITE DIRECTORY
To learn more about any of the BCN sites listed below, click “Read more” to view individual site briefs. To search for a specific BCN site, use the search bar below:
Rocks Plantation Cemetery
Rocks Plantation Cemetery
FOUNDED: ca. 1803
ADDITIONAL NAMES: N/A
AFFILIATION(S): N/A
HISTORY: The Rocks Plantation was owned by Captain Peter Gaillard. Captain Peter Gaillard owned hundreds of enslaved people, the majority of whom are ancestors to living descendents, and they were buried at the Rocks Plantation Cemetery . Unfortunately, most of the interred are under Lake Marion because of the program that brought electricity to the rural areas. The Rocks Plantation "Big House" was moved more inland so the floods would not devour it. The White Gaillards, buried in the same cemetery, were moved to Church Island, S.C. - close to Eutawville, but only accessible by boat. The Black Davis/Gaillards either did not get proper notice, or didn't have a place to move and re-inter their deceased loved ones, which was a requirement to have the bodies exhumed. Time ran out and Santee Cooper authorities deemed the gravesites "undisturbed" and many of my ancestors are now submerged under Lake Marion...except for one. The one tombstone left belongs to Jacob Davis, the Great-great-grandfather of living descendents. He was born between 1853 and 1856 and died in 1915. Jacob Davis was a boy when slavery ended. Jacob's father Paul bought land in Eutawville, several hundred acres. Jacob added on to the property and built a school to educated the area children. The "Smith Hill" school predates the Rosenwald Negro Schools. Jacob’s tombstone is the only one left standing. When living descendents learned that their Great-great-grandfather's final resting place was not submerged and that the tombstone was still visible and intact, they visited and took pictures. Myra Davis-Branic was inspired to write a book chronicling their family. The book is called "Cornbread My Soul: The Davis Family of Eutawville, SC".
BCN Contact Information:
Myra Davis-Branic
Weems Slave Cemetery
Weems Slave Cemetery
FOUNDED: 1820-1830
ADDITIONAL NAMES: Weems Slave Plantation
AFFILIATION(S): N/A
HISTORY: The Weems Slave Cemetery is a historic burial ground associated with the former Weems Plantation in Henry County, Georgia, dating to the early 1800s. The cemetery is believed to contain between 500 and 1,000 graves, including those of enslaved African Americans and Native Americans who lived and labored on the plantation. Many of the graves remain unmarked, making the site one of the largest known historic burial grounds of its kind in the area. The cemetery stands as a powerful reminder of the generations of men, women, and children whose lives helped shape Henry County’s history. The site’s significance to the local community and Black history is profound. It serves as a sacred resting place for hundreds of ancestors whose stories were largely omitted from historical records. Today, descendants, historians, archaeologists, and community members are working to preserve and protect the cemetery, ensuring that the lives, contributions, and legacies of an estimated 500 to 1,000 African American and Native American ancestors are recognized, honored, and remembered for future generations. The cemetery represents an irreplaceable link to the history of slavery, survival, family, and community in Henry County and the State of Georgia.
BCN Contact Information:
Honor Thy Roots Cemetery Preservation, Inc.
Female Union Band Society Cemetery
Female Union Band Society Cemetery
FOUNDED: 1842
ADDITIONAL NAMES: FUBS, Mount Zion West
AFFILIATION(S): N/A
HISTORY: The Female Union Band Society Cemetery was established in 1842 by the Female Union Band Society, a benevolent organization led by free Black women in Georgetown, Washington, DC. Decades before emancipation, these women purchased land in the nation’s capital and created a permanent place of burial, remembrance, and community care. The cemetery is a powerful example of free Black women’s leadership, mutual aid, land ownership, and Black self-determination in antebellum America. The cemetery is significant to local, national, and international Black history. Those buried here are connected to Georgetown, Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, the wider United States, and beyond. Their lives reflect histories of slavery and freedom, migration, faith, education, military service, skilled work, property ownership, family networks, and community institution-building. The cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and, together with Mount Zion Cemetery was designated in 2018 as an UNESCO’s site of memory associated with the Routes of Enslaved Peoples programme.
BCN Contact Information:
Lisa Fager
Mount Zion Cemetery
Mount Zion Cemetery
FOUNDED: 1808
ADDITIONAL NAMES: Old Methodist Burying Ground, Mt Zion Cemetery
AFFILIATION(S): Mount Zion United Methodist Church
HISTORY: Mount Zion Cemetery, historically known as the Old Methodist Burying Ground, was established in 1808 by Montgomery Street Methodist Episcopal Church, a racially mixed Methodist congregation in Georgetown. In 1816, many of the Black members of that church left to form Mount Zion United Methodist Church, Washington, DC’s oldest Black congregations. Over time, the cemetery became a sacred burial ground for generations of Black Georgetown residents, including free and enslaved people, church leaders, laborers, artisans, educators, Civil War veterans, families, and community builders. The cemetery is significant to Black history because it reflects both the interracial origins of early Methodism in Georgetown and the emergence of independent Black religious, family, and community networks in the nineteenth century. Mount Zion Cemetery preserves the memory of Black Georgetown residents who built churches, schools, businesses, mutual aid networks, and freedom-seeking communities across generations. It is also associated with Underground Railroad history through Mount Zion’s burial vault and the broader networks connected to the church. The site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and, with the adjacent Female Union Band Society Cemetery, designated a UNESCO Slave Route Project Site of Memory in 2018. Today, the cemetery remains an important site of remembrance, research, preservation, and public education.
BCN Contact Information:
Lisa Fager
Narcoossee Arthur Fell Cemetery
Narcoossee Arthur Fell Cemetery
FOUNDED: 1911
ADDITIONAL NAMES: Whitted Historic Community
AFFILIATION(S): St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church (Narcoossee)
HISTORY: The Arthur J. Fell Memorial Cemetery, also known as the Narcoossee Cemetery, is a historic burial ground located in St. Cloud (Narcoossee), FL. Originally platted in 1892, Arthur J. Fell formally deeded the land “for use forever as a public cemetery for and by the people of Narcoossee and vicinity” on October 16, 1911. Since then, the cemetery has served as the final resting place for generations of locals, preserving history of one Osceola County’s oldest communities. The cemetery remains active and maintained the county. The cemetery holds particular significance to Black History in Narcoossee, as it contains the graves of African American pioneers, laborers, church leaders, veterans, and families whose work in the citrus, sugar cane, and turpentine industries helped build the community. Many of these families were associated with the historic St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church (Narcoossee) following migration from North Carolina in the late 1800s. The cemetery serves as an important cultural and historical resource, preserving the stories and legacies of Black families, including members of the Paul, Whitted, and other pioneering families, whose lives are an integral part of Narcoossee’s history and the broader African American heritage of Central Florida.
BCN Contact Information:
Jessica Paul
Owensville Cemetery West
Owensville Cemetery West
FOUNDED: Mid-1800s
ADDITIONAL NAMES: N/A
AFFILIATION(S): Owensville Cemetery West Association
HISTORY: West Owensville Cemetery, in Robertson County, TX, is a historic African American burial ground dating back to the mid-1800s. The west section developed as the designated resting place for Black community members during a period of segregation, reflecting the social conditions of the time. In 1952, the Owensville Cemetery West Association was established by S.T. Brown, Dan Richards, and Mack Hodge to preserve and maintain this section, ensuring that the graves and stories of African American residents would not be forgotten. The cemetery continues to be cared for through ongoing community efforts that honor its importance. This section of the cemetery is the final resting place of many individuals who contributed significantly to local and national history. Notable burials include Theodore “TD” Davis, a WWII veteran and pioneering African American employee of Western Union; Reverend Robert Neal and Viola Neal, educators and civil rights advocates; and Willie B. Johnson, a veteran, principal, and longtime cemetery preservation leader. They represent generations of resilience, service, and leadership within the African American community of Robertson County. Today, West Owensville Cemetery stands as a powerful symbol of heritage, perseverance, and remembrance.
BCN Contact Information:
Mary Stevens
Woodlawn Cemetery
Woodlawn Cemetery
FOUNDED: 1946
ADDITIONAL NAMES: N/A
AFFILIATION(S): N/A
HISTORY: In 1946, Pastor Garther Roberson Senior purchased a plot of land in Ypsilanti to provide a resting place for Black community members when there were few options due to discrimination and racism. Woodlawn Cemetery, the only documented Black cemetery in the County, has since fallen into disrepair. Initial research indicates that Woodlawn Cemetery has served as the final resting place for over 150 African Americans whose lives were central to the development and history of Ypsilanti and broader Washtenaw County. This Restoration Project includes the necessary steps to preserve and protect the historic cemetery for future generations while maintaining its historical integrity.
BCN Contact Information:
Dr. Debby Covington
Terryville Community Cemetery
Terryville Community Cemetery
FOUNDED: 1845
ADDITIONAL NAMES: N/A
AFFILIATION(S): N/A
HISTORY: At the end of the Civil War, the plantation owners in Gonzales County wanted their former slaves to vacate the plantation lands. The ex-slaves didn’t want to leave because they had nowhere to go, so, the plantation owners got together and gave the now freed slaves a five acre long stretch of land and evicted them from the plantations to this five acre stretch which included the ‘burying ground’, now the Terryville Community Cemetery, for slaves dying on the plantations over the years. Those five acres became the center of what was known as the "Terryville Community". The Terryville Community was a thriving self-contained Black community. The surrounding Black owned farms used the central hub of the community to socialize, express their religious freedom and trade communities among themselves.
BCN Contact Information:
James Kirkwood
Coming Street Cemetery
Coming Street Cemetery
FOUNDED: 1794
ADDITIONAL NAMES: Strangers & Negroes Public Burying Ground, 106 Coming Street Cemetery
AFFILIATION(S): Preservation Society of Charleston, Protect and Respect the Bodies Coalition
HISTORY: Between 1794 and 1807, the City of Charleston operated a public burial ground on Calhoun Street between Coming and St. Philip Streets, where many of the city’s most vulnerable residents were laid to rest. Those interred included poor adults, children, and enslaved individuals who could not afford or access other cemeteries, including captured Africans who did not survive the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The burial ground was in use for just thirteen years before reaching capacity, a reflection of the immense mortality associated with the final decades of the transatlantic trade into Charleston. It represents the lives—and deaths—of individuals who were systematically excluded from traditional memorialization and whose stories have often gone unrecorded. For descendants and the broader community, the site serves as a powerful physical link to ancestry and resilience, underscoring ongoing efforts to acknowledge burial grounds–especially Black burial grounds as essential components of the historic landscape.
BCN Contact Information:
Madison Lee
Cemetery for the Enslaved at The Hermitage
Cemetery for the Enslaved at The Hermitage
FOUNDED: 1804
ADDITIONAL NAMES: Andrew Jackson's Hermitage
AFFILIATION(S): N/A
HISTORY: The cemetery for the enslaved at The Hermitage—the plantation home of Andrew Jackson—was established during the early 19th century, when enslaved laborers lived and worked on the property. Jackson enslaved nine people by 1804; by the time of his death in 1845, that number had increased to 161, with more than 300 individuals enslaved at The Hermitage over time. Evidence long indicated the presence of a burial ground, but its location was not confirmed until 2024, when archaeological surveys identified at least 28 graves in a wooded area roughly 325 yards from the main house. The burials are largely unmarked, consistent with common practices in enslaved communities during this period. The cemetery provides material evidence of the lives and deaths of enslaved individuals at The Hermitage, a site historically interpreted primarily through the life of Jackson. The site offers a documented space directly tied to enslaved populations whose identities were often excluded from written records. Its identification also serves as a focal point for descendant engagement and public history initiatives that address the scale of enslavement in Middle Tennessee during the Early Republic period.
BCN Contact Information:
Cody Youngblood
Hurricane of 1928 African American Mass Burial Site (Pauper's Cemetery)
Hurricane of 1928 African American Mass Burial Site (Pauper's Cemetery)
FOUNDED: 1913
ADDITIONAL NAMES: N/A
AFFILIATION(S): Storm of ’28 Memorial Park Coalition Inc.
HISTORY: Located in the northeast corner of Pauper’s Cemetery, the 1928 Hurricane African American Mass Burial Site is the final resting place for about 674 Black victims of the 1928 hurricane. Although unofficial burials began at Pauper’s Cemetery around 1913, this mass grave honors the migrant workers who lost their lives in one of America’s worst natural disasters. Documented in Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God, these victims were denied proper burials and dumped in an unmarked trench, while 60 white victims of the same storm were buried in coffins at Woodlawn Cemetery. The site was later neglected for decades as a garbage dump and industrial area. It is now a place of memory, healing, and honoring Black migrant workers, with efforts by organizations like the Storm of '28 Memorial Park Coalition. They work to preserve the burial site, promote healing, and educate the public on the victims' contributions. After lobbying the city to purchase the mass grave site, the site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 and received a state historical marker in 2003.
BCN Contact Information:
Dorothy and Robert Hazard
Milwaukee County Grounds Cemetery 2
Milwaukee County Grounds Cemetery 2
FOUNDED: 1882
ADDITIONAL NAMES: County Farm Cemetery
AFFILIATION(S): N/A
HISTORY: Milwaukee County Grounds Cemetery 2, historically referred to as the County Farm Cemetery, served as a public burial ground from 1882 to 1925 for individuals who died in Milwaukee County and had no means for private burial. More than 7,200 men, women, and children were interred, including approximately 150 African Americans—many among Milwaukee’s earliest Black families. Although African Americans comprised less than one-half of one percent of Milwaukee’s population, they accounted for more than 2.5 percent of burials at this site, with approximately one in six Black residents buried here compared to one in forty European Americans. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, burial markers were removed as the County redeveloped the land. In 1932, construction took place directly over the cemetery, destroying more than half of the graves and redistributing human remains across the landscape. Human remains continue to be uncovered.
To date, the Descendant Community of Milwaukee County Grounds Cemeteries, Inc. has identified approximately 60 death certificates for the estimated 150 African Americans buried at Cemetery 2, and continues to discover more. This work supports ongoing efforts to reconnect living descendants and include them in decisions regarding their ancestors.
BCN Contact Information:
Judy Houston - Descendant Community of Milwaukee County Grounds Cemeteries, Inc
Hollywood Cemetery Memphis
Hollywood Cemetery Memphis
FOUNDED: 1909
ADDITIONAL NAMES: N/A
AFFILIATION(S): N/A
HISTORY: Hollywood Cemetery in Memphis Tennessee is the resting place of two well known Blues musicians, Furry Lewis and Frank Stokes. It is also the resting place many Memphis Sanitation Workers who were on strike when Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968. This cemetery has great historical significance.
BCN Contact Information:
Diane Green
Evergreen Cemetery
Evergreen Cemetery
FOUNDED: 1913
ADDITIONAL NAMES: N/A
AFFILIATION(S): Evergreen Community Committee, Community Planning Collaborative
HISTORY: On October 23, 1913, a group of African Americans bought nine acres of land to create a cemetery—the first Black-owned cemetery in Florida. The cemetery received its non-profit charter in 1916 and is the final resting place for many local leaders, including the city’s first Black doctor and early teachers. Evergreen Cemetery served the Black community during segregation, offering a place of dignity and respect. In 1981, the city recognized its historical importance, and in 1987, West Palm Beach made it a historic site and took over its care. Today, Evergreen Cemetery stands as a reminder of the community’s history and strength.
BCN Contact Information:
Consider the Culture - Alisha R. Winn
Bradwell Family Cemetery
Bradwell Family Cemetery
FOUNDED: Early 1900s
ADDITIONAL NAMES: N/A
AFFILIATION(S): N/A
HISTORY: The Bradwell slaves were transported to Wetumpka Florida in the early 1850s after their purchase by Isaac Bradwell. 19 slaves were purchased and moved to Florida. Formerly they were slaves of John Inabinette of St. Helena, South Carolina, an area known as Geechee Country. The Bradwell Family cemetery originally was the final resting place for the Bradwell family’s enslaved ancestors. The cemetery is located in Wetumpka, Florida, a small African American Community outside of Quincy, Florida.
The first bodies laid to rest are unknown, however Mingo Bradwell (born 1838 in St. Helena, South Carolina) died in 1910 and was the first to be buried in this section of the Bradwell Plantation. All the children listed on the attached plaque are buried in this cemetery. All 18 of Mingo and Sarah Bradwell's children are buried in this hallowed soil.
BCN Contact Information:
Octavius Clark
Historic Litchfield Plantation Cemetery
Historic Litchfield Plantation Cemetery
FOUNDED: Early 1700s
ADDITIONAL NAMES: Litchfield Cemetery
AFFILIATION(S): N/A
HISTORY: Litchfield Plantation traces its formation to three land grants of 500, 500 and 420 acres (1.7 km2) from King George III to Thomas Hepworth, in 1710, 1712 and 1711. One of the distinguishing characteristics of Litchfield Plantation is the existence of a cemetery utilized by slaves of the plantation and their descendants. Little is recorded of the history of slavery at Litchfield Plantation. According to an archaeological investigation performed in 1989 the cemetery holds approximately 150 possible graves. Only 5 of these graves are marked, and only 2 are legible with dates in 1888 and 1920. The estate inventory of John Hyrne Tucker, taken in July of 1859, recorded the names of 155 slaves on Litchfield Plantation.
BCN Contact Information:
Robert B. Morrison
Woodlawn Cemetery (Historic African American Section)
Woodlawn Cemetery
FOUNDED: 1915
ADDITIONAL NAMES: N/A
AFFILIATION(S): A Voice in the Wilderness Empowerment Center
HISTORY: Woodlawn Cemetery in Fort Myers, Florida is a historic burial ground that holds the remains of African American families from across Southwest Florida, including residents of Immokalee who were denied burial access in Collier County during the era of segregation. Because Black residents were barred from many white cemeteries, families were forced to bury their loved ones in Fort Myers. Woodlawn therefore became a regional resting place for Black agricultural workers, families, and children whose lives were tied to the farming communities of Immokalee and the surrounding areas. The cemetery contains both marked and unmarked graves and stands as physical evidence of the racial restrictions that shaped burial practices in Southwest Florida.
BCN Contact Information:
Ramona D. Miller
Anson Street African Burial Ground
Anson Street African Burial Ground
FOUNDED: 1849
ADDITIONAL NAMES: N/A
AFFILIATION(S): Anson Street African Burial Ground project
HISTORY: The African Burial Ground on Anson Street in Charleston, SC, was rediscovered in 2013 during construction activities. Archaeological investigation revealed the graves of thirty-six children, women, and men of African descent who were buried there between the 1760s and 1790s; the ancestors were laid to rest with care by their loved ones, some dressed in clothing, some wrapped in shrouds, and some interred with personal belongings. Isotopic analysis indicates that at least six individuals were born in West and West Central Africa, survived the Middle Passage, and spent their final years in Charleston. The site is significant to both the local community and Black history as a rare and sacred testament to African presence, resilience, and cultural continuity in one of the principal ports of the transatlantic slave trade. In 2017, Charleston Mayor invited the grassroots Gullah Society, led by Dr. Ade Ofunniyin, to guide the memorialization and reburial process. During a Yoruba Naming Ceremony on April 27, 2019, the ancestors were given honorary African and Gullah Geechee names, restoring identity and dignity. They were reinterred in 2019, in the sacred ground where they were originally laid to rest. In 2025, a permanent memorial was dedicated to honor their lives and the countless African ancestors buried in Charleston’s soil.
BCN Contact Information:
Joanna Gilmore
Snow Hill Primitive Baptist Cemetery
SNOW HILL PRIMITIVE BAPTIST CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1929
ADDITONAL NAMES: None
AFFILIATION(S): Previously affiliated with Snow Hill Baptist Church
HISTORY: Snow Hill Cemetery, located in Mebane North Carolina, has been burial ground to many in the now Miles Chapel area formerly known as Unity in Alamance County. Families from the Moore, Hightower, Miles, Lea and others were buried there. This cemetery is a burial ground for early teacher Eliza Lea, who taught at Pleasant Grove Union, and Turner Moore, who helped found what’s now known as Miles Chapel church.
BCN Contact Information:
Melissa Enoch
msmelissae45@gmail.com
St. Peter’s Cemetery
ST. PETER’S CEMETERY
FOUNDED: 1851
ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A
AFFILIATION(S):
Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition
HISTORY:
The two main demographic groups buried at the cemetery are African Americans and Irish, with numerous other immigrant groups, which makes it unique. The two main churches that are buried at the cemetery are designated as a Historic Landmark. St. Peter Claver Catholic Church, located in Baltimore's Sandtown community, is a historic landmark that was founded in 1888 by the Josephite Fathers to serve Black Catholics and is the first parish in the world dedicated to St. Peter Claver, the "Apostle of the Slaves". The other main church that is buried at the cemetery and is also a Historic Landmark Designation is St. Peter the Apostle Church. St Peter the Apostle was a Roman Catholic church located within the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland. Constructed at the northwest corner of Hollins and South Poppleton Streets (848 Hollins) and (11-13 South Poppleton), it was often referred to as "The Mother Church of West Baltimore" and served as a pillar of the Irish Community. The church is no longer catholic owned and is now an African American congregation: Carter Memorial Church of God in Christ.
BCN Contact Information:
Jennifer Johnson