by Shawn Nowlin
Volunteers throughout the Roanoke Valley are coming together to help restore Old Lick Cemetery, the oldest African American burial ground in the Star City located next to Orange Avenue.
Completing a project of this magnitude is no easy task. Vital to the restoration effort will be cleaning up the stones to see what they say.
Formed by Ellen Forbes, “The Friends of Old Lick Cemetery” is the organization beyond the mission. Everyone involved is committed to “restoring, reclaiming and maintaining the cemetery, providing a place for visitors to learn, remember and reflect on the people buried and witness the injustice of those removed.”
For decades, the cemetery was the only place for Black residents in Roanoke. Between 1890 and 1945, hundreds of African Americans associated with First Baptist Church in Gainsboro were laid to rest there. After the burials stopped, the church struggled to maintain the property.
Eventually, the cemetery’s land was deeded to the church.
When Interstate 581 was built 65 years ago, more than 250 bodies buried in Old Lick were transported to a mass grave several miles away in Botetourt County.
“By the late 1950s, urban renewal projects had changed the area dramatically and in 1961, city workers disinterred 933 unidentified and 28 identified remains and reburied them in a mass grave site at Coyner Springs in order to create the cloverleaf interchange connecting downtown to I-581,” states the organization on its Facebook page.
“Today, what remains of the cemetery is owned and maintained by First Baptist Church, Gainsboro. Efforts by the church and Friends of Old Lick are underway to restore the remaining cemetery and to identify the names of those buried there and those re-interred at Coyner Springs Cemetery,” it added.
For Richard Smith, Old Lick Cemetery is the final resting place for some of his family members.
“Tombstones are much more than just engraved names in a cemetery. They represent powerful stories and legacies. If there is one thing that most people can agree on, it should be keeping all cemeteries up to date,” Smith said.
He added, “While historic, the cemetery has very much been neglected over the years. It warms my heart that volunteers are working together to restore Old Lick. If people don’t fight for what they believe in, failure is inevitable.”
Individuals interested in donating or volunteering are encouraged to reach out through Facebook. Additional information can also be found on the group’s social media page.
