Hartsville Cemetery seeks $150,000 grant, National Register status
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
The continuing effort to clean, survey, and restore the historic Marion Avenue Cemetery, final resting place for many African-American Hartsvillians from 1904 to 1995, could get a major boost from an infusion of grant funds and recognition on the National Historic Register.
The Marion Avenue Cemetery, located behind the now-demolished Lincoln Village Apartments off 8th Street, was for decades overgrown with brush and difficult to access. Active citizens teamed with the City of Hartsville to raise funds and clear away growth and trash, and now members of the city’s Historic Marion Avenue Cemetery Committee are aiming to secure the cemetery’s status with two initiatives.
At the committee’s January 30 meeting, Mary Catherine Farrell, assistant to the city manager, told members that the City will submit a letter of intent to apply for a $150,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African-American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. If invited to submit a full application, the City would propose to use the entire grant amount for specific cemetery projects.
These projects would include building a monument listing names of those buried at Marion Avenue and those who may be interred in unmarked graves, buying markers for perhaps 300 unmarked graves, using 2-D or 3-D ground penetrating radar to plot unmarked graves, erecting fencing, and repairing damaged tombstones.
Farrell said this grant only chooses six recipients nationwide each year, but such a significant award is worth pursuing the application process.
The committee is also beginning work on its application for Marion Avenue Cemetery to be included on the National Register of Historic Places. Committee member and Hartsville Mayor Pro Tem Johnny Andrews said that one of the first steps in this process is underway: preliminary research into the burials of noteworthy citizens, veterans, and those born into slavery.
Andrews presented this preliminary list, which includes at least 17 veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, as well as some veterans of the Spanish-American War.
The Marion Avenue Cemetery is the resting place of the Rev. Henry H. Butler, principal of Butler School from 1909 to 1946 and pastor of Jerusalem Baptist Church.
Also, according to Andrews’ list, at least 42 persons born into slavery were buried at Marion Avenue.
The committee plans to conduct a Survey Day on the morning of February 17 to photograph grave markers and take note of grave conditions. Any interested members of the public are invited to take part. Results of this survey will be discussed at the committee’s next meeting on February 27, to be held at Hartsville City Hall, located at 100 East Carolina Avenue.