Oak Grove Cemetery

Uncovering the past: City to help fund survey of Old Oak Grove Cemetery

By Paul Nielsen Staff Writer /The Daily Advance-Nov 15, 2021

Elizabeth City officials have agreed to help fund an archaeological survey that will identify marked and unmarked graves at the city’s oldest cemetery for Black residents.

The $50,800 survey of Old Oak Cemetery will be funded by a $30,480 state grant with the remaining $20,320 coming from the city. The state grant is from the state’s Historic Preservation Fund and required a match from the city.

New South Associates of Stone, Mountain, Georgia, will conduct the survey. The city received five bids for the project and one bid came in slightly lower than New South. Because of the nature of the work the city did not have to select the low bid but instead could pick the firm with the best qualifications.

In a memo to City Council, interim City Manager Ralph Clark said New South has surveyed more than 90 cemeteries across several states and has a staff of 116. The company has a branch office in Greensboro.

“All the proposed members of New South’s project team have degrees in anthropology or archaeology,” Clark said.

New South will use mapping and ground-penetrating radar, or GPR, to survey approximately 8 acres at the 13-acre historic Black cemetery in the 1300 block of Peartree Road. New South estimates there are around 2,450 recorded interments at Old Oak Grove.

Because the cemetery is still in active use, marked internments date from the late 19th century to the present day.

“There are an unknown number of unmarked graves present in the cemetery,” New South wrote in its proposal to the city.

The firm said there is a possibility of some unmarked graves within the wooden perimeter of the cemetery that will not be accessible to a GPR survey.

“The perimeter of the cemetery will be investigated by pedestrian survey by an experienced archaeologist,” New South said.

The Old Oak Grove Cemetery was established in 1886 and one of its founders was Elizabeth City State Normal School founder Hugh Cale. It is the oldest cemetery for Black residents in the city.

Persons buried there include Cale and Civil War soldiers who fought as members of the U.S. Colored Troops.

The survey is expected to be completed next August and New South will present its findings to City Council when the report is completed.

Photo credit: Paul Nielsen

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