6 Forgotten Black American Cemeteries With Rich Histories - Atlas Obscura Lists
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6 Forgotten Black American Cemeteries With Rich Histories

Every burial ground has stories waiting to be told.

by Jonathan Carey, Associate Places Editor
6 Places

The image of a forgotten cemetery, desolate and overgrown, sounds like the ideal setting for a horror movie. Even as they force us to confront any number of fears, cemeteries are filled with rich insights into the past, sometimes representing the triumph over fear and perseverance against extreme odds. Perhaps no better example of this exists than historical Black cemeteries that dot the American landscape. Some are fairly well known, while others are slowly fading from memory.

During the time that Black Americans have had to struggle for basic freedoms, many have crafted their own communities and found ways to honor those who came before. Here are six forgotten Black American cemeteries that pay homage and hold lessons in history. 

Key West, Florida

African Cemetery at Higgs Beach

In 2002, radar uncovered the graves of African men, women, and children who were interred here and forgotten for more than a century. In 1860, the United States Navy intercepted three ships heading for Cuba with more than 1,000 enslaved people aboard. At the time, the Transatlantic Slave Trade had been deemed illegal. The refugees were then sent to Key West to recover, but within months more than 200 had passed, and were buried here. Upon its rediscovery, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places and is the only known cemetery for African refugees in the United States.
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Ashburn, Virginia

Belmont Enslaved Cemetery

Next to a busy stretch of highway, a heavily wooded area hid a cemetery for years. It wasn’t until a pastor in search of land for a new church discovered that the area was designated as the burial place for the enslaved populations from two plantations. The site was rescued and restoration efforts began in 2015. The cemetery is now home to the “Journey to Freedom Heritage Trail,” a 400-foot-long, wood-framed and gravel-paved walkway that leads visitors through the cemetery, where they can learn about the history of slavery in the region.
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Atlanta, Georgia

Mount Olive Cemetery

Following the Civil War, a large number of freed Black Americans founded the community of Macedonia, one of Atlanta’s first Black communities. The cemetery sat next to the Mt. Olive African Methodist Episcopal Church. The community eventually grew to include restaurants, grocery stores, and a blacksmith. During the 1940s, the county marked the community for demolition and its residents were systematically removed. For decades, the unmarked graves of former residents went unnoticed, until recent restoration efforts.
West Nyack, New York

Mount Moor Cemetery

Near the Palisades Mall, surrounded by stores and daily shoppers, sits a historic cemetery hiding in plain sight. Mount Moor Cemetery is listed on the National Register for Historic Places. In 1849, it was deeded as a “burying ground for colored people.” Buried in the small cemetery are veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and both World Wars.
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Richmond, Virginia

Evergreen Cemetery

Once consumed by vines and other plants, this cemetery remained hidden for decades until it was rediscovered during the mid-20th century. The cemetery was founded around 1891 for the burial of the area’s Black residents during the height of the Jim Crow era. The 60-acre cemetery is the final resting place of influential Black leaders such as Maggie L. Walker, John Mitchell Jr., and A.D. Price. The cemetery has since undergone a massive restoration.
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St. Augustine, Florida

Pinehurst and San Sebastian Cemeteries

Surrounded by overgrown foliage and filled with dilapidated gravestones, this cemetery in Florida is the final resting place of many Black American veterans of the Civil and Korean Wars. One such veteran is Scipio Miller, one of three Union soldiers laid to rest here. Community groups are currently working to restore this crucial, neglected piece of history.
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