Locust Grove Cemetery
Shippensburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Burial ground for slaves and free blacks since the early 19th century and site of Shippensburg's first African American church, established 1830s. Edward Shippen Burd granted the land to Shippensburg's African American community in 1842. It was the only public cemetery open to African Americans in the area until the late 20th century. Graves of veterans from the Civil War to the Vietnam conflict include those of twenty-six Civil War soldiers.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Since the early 19th century, Locust Grove Cemetery has been the resting place of enslaved and free Black residents of the Shippensburg area, and the site of the town's first African American church, founded in the 1830s. In 1842 Edward Shippen Burd granted the land to the local Black community, and for well over a century it remained the only public cemetery in the area open to African Americans. Among its graves are twenty-six Civil War soldiers, alongside veterans of every American conflict through Vietnam.
Why it matters
The cemetery is a tangible record of an African American community's endurance across slavery, freedom, and generations of military service, when even burial grounds were segregated.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it โ museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- Appalachian Trail Museum11.2 mi away
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Related people
- ยท Edward Shippen Burd
Themes & tags
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