The Charles Town African American Cemetery was formally dedicated during a brief ceremony on August 17, 2025. A newly-installed monument on the site marks a 19th-century burial ground located at the corner of South Seminary and East Avis Streets.
Linda Downing Ballard recounted some history during the ceremony. “No one knows their names…. What we do know is that these individuals are buried here… [they were] “men, women, and children — with hopes, dreams and aspirations just like the rest of us.”
Ballard, who has compiled extensive research on the Black community in Charles Town, explained that there are no available death records for the community prior to 1853, even though census records indicate hundreds of enslaved individuals lived around Charles Town during the early 19th century. She said that this burial ground was actively used from 1836 until 1875, when Fairview Cemetery was established.
There were no individual burial markers or gravestones for the interred in what was considered a “potter’s field” and its history was soon forgotten. As one participant remarked during the ceremony, “we walked by as kids, it was just a field.”
Research on the Fairview Cemetery by the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission convinced then-Mayor Bob Trainor to establish a committee in 2023 to research this burial location. In addition to the new monument, the committee has installed ground markers above the 48 identifiable burials that were located using ground-penetrating radar.
At the end of the 19th century, the City of Charles Town had built a water tower on the field, with more towers added in the early 20th century. The outline of one of the former towers is still visible adjacent to the large tower that sits on the south end of the field today. Ballard noted that there is no way to know whether the individuals buried in those locations were reinterred at Fairview before the tanks were constructed. She did say that the committee had decided to keep the spots disturbed by the former towers bare as a reminder of the history.
As Ballard concluded, she said “This place will tell a story of America’s history. Let us remember and reflect.”
