Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground (Richmond, Virginia)

 cemetery, historical layer / disappeared object

 Upload a photo

The Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground was established in 1816 by the city of Richmond for free people of colour and the enslaved. It was a segregated part of the Shockoe Hill Burying Ground, also known as the Shockoe Hill Cemetery. It started as 2 one acre plots at 5th St. and Hospital St.. On an 1816 plan it appears as the "Burying Ground for Free People of Colour", and the "Burying Ground for Negroes" (slaves). It grew greatly over time, and its name varies on maps. Today it is unrecognizable, as there is nothing on the surface that would indicate that it is there. It was closed to new burials in 1879 due to overcrowded conditions. It is estimated that over 22,000 interments were made in this African Burying Ground, likely making it the largest burial ground of free people of color and the enslaved in the United States.

This burial ground has suffered many abuses. Its grounds were disposed of by the city of Richmond. By 1906 it disappeared from the map. Portions of it became part of the Hebrew Cemetery. An old Sunoco gas station sits upon a portion of its original 2 acres, while other parts lie beneath railroad tracks, Interstate-64, Hospital St. and more. This site remains officially unacknowledged, and threatened by proposed rail and roadway projects.