The City of Petersburg has developed a plan to beautify and add to the security to the historic People’s Cemetery by enhancing existing landscaping, installing fencing and brick columns finished with decorative concrete caps. The beautification project will begin the beginning of December this year and expected completion is February 2015.
The project will provide ornamental fencing along S. Crater Road and chain-link fencing will encompass the cemetery on all remaining sides to enhance the security to protect this very valuable asset. Roadway treatment will provide improved access to visitors and continued efforts, including landscaping will provide a more pleasant view shed to those that pass by.
The People’s Cemetery is a historic African American burial ground that traces its roots back almost 200 years. Named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, and named a stop on the Network to Freedom, in recognition of its connection to the Underground Railroad, People’s Cemetery is the final resting place of abolitionists, Civil War soldiers, slaves, escaped slaves and free men of color. The denizens of People’s Cemetery represent the full spectrum of African American life in the South from antebellum times to the Civil Rights era. The stones here also run the gamut, defining in perpetuity the social strata of the people who rest here.
For more information on City of Petersburg services and programs, please visit www.petersburgva.gov.