SHOCKOE HILL CEMETERIES CLEANUP

SHOCKOE HILL CEMETERIES CLEANUP

Join the City of Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities and the Descendants Council of Greater Richmond for a weekend workday at the Shockoe Hill Cemeteries. An innovation at the time of its founding, Shockoe Hill Cemetery presented an ordered, secular burial ground operated by the city. Land for the site was purchased in 1799, but the city did not open the burial ground until around 1822, the year of its first interment. Located on the north side of town, between 2nd and 4th Streets, it anchored a neighborhood then populated by the newly established Barton Heights Cemetery, the Hebrew Cemetery, a municipal burying ground for free blacks and slaves, and a potter’s field for poor whites. The city’s poorhouse was located across the street from the cemetery.

Volunteers are needed to help remove trash, clear overgrowth, small trees, and bushes along the fence line, haul accumulated brush, complete string trimming, and uncover long-hidden grave markers.  

Tools and gloves will be provided. We recommend wearing a hat, long sleeves, long pants, and sturdy shoes.   Sunglasses and sunscreen are also recommended.  Children are welcome, as long as they are supervised by an adult.

WHERE: Shockoe Hill Cemetery, 209 Hospital St, Richmond.  We will have a sign-in table near the entrance.  Please be sure to stop and sign in, even if you’ve volunteered with us before. 

For more information, please contact Kimberly Jackson at [email protected].