GreenvilleWednesday, November 4
Radar survey finds 572 unmarked graves at Springwood Cemetery in downtown Greenville
The 5AM Taylors team
Officials and historians knew unmarked graves were in Section V of downtown Greenville's Springwood Cemetery, but not how many. A ground-penetrating radar survey of Section V found 572 unmarked graves in rows and columns in the northeastern corner, overlooking Academy and Church streets. The section was a potter's field, a public burial ground, for African Americans and impoverished people.
Section V's radar survey found 572 unmarked graves
- 572
- unmarked graves found in Section V
- 617
- markers installed in mid-October
- $6,000
- anonymous donation to the historical society for the markers
Source: Greenville Journal
Next comes the harder part: names. Researchers will look into former neighborhood churches and mutual aid societies that may have kept burial records. The discs don't identify the dead because many remain unknown, and committee members are considering a larger monument and a garden with yucca and daffodils.
The cemetery work ran from an August survey to a Nov. 10 meeting
- AugustOmega Mapping Services runs the radar survey of Section V.
- SeptemberThe advisory committee reviews the findings and approves metal disc markers.
- Mid-Oct.617 markers are installed in Section V.
- Nov. 10The advisory committee meets at 3 p.m. to discuss more preservation work.
Source: Greenville Journal
“We're going to finally honor these lost souls.”
- Still to survey: another 30 to 50 graves are expected
- Cemetery estimate: about 10,000 buried, roughly 2,600 in unmarked graves
- Meeting place: McPherson Park Log Cabin, 102 E. Park Ave.
Sources: Greenville Journal, WSPA 7News