Pinehurst Cemetery Recording Project

 

Volunteers diligently recording in Pinehurst Cemetery, St. Augustine, FL

The Pinehurst Cemetery Recording Project is now complete!   Beginning in October 2021, FPAN Staff and a handful of faithful volunteers began meeting in the cemetery weekly (a few weeks being cancelled due to weather, holidays and COVID-19 concerns).  The project concluded in April 2022.    We were glad to capture a snapshot of the cemetery as it stands today before some of the markers are lost to time and the elements.

Marker endangered from fallen tree in Pinhehurst Cemetery

During this time frame, we methodically worked our way through recording the cemetery…

267 - individual markers were marked, transcribed, measured, assessed and                                          photographed

47 – 10 x 10 Meter blocks were measured and mapped

23 – Field days were worked

6 – Volunteers volunteered!

This is a project that we’ve been wanting to do for some time now!   Upon completing the recording project of neighboring San Sebastian Cemetery in 2017 (read blog here), we’ve been itching to get started in Pinehurst.  However its dense overgrowth hid a majority of the markers and made working conditions unsafe for volunteers.  San Sebastian was in the same condition when it received a major clean up  in 2013, a work day organized by the National Guard and Operation Restore Respect.  This allowed us to safely enter San Sebastian but Pinehurst was still not accessible. 

San Sebastian Cemetery pre 2013 Clean Up Day (image by Teresa Frank)

San Sebastian Cemetery post 2013 Clean Up Day (image by Teresa Frank)

But in October 2021, The West Augustine Improvement Association, in coordination with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, hosted a clean up day for the two adjacent cemeteries:  San Sebastian received a cleaning up and Pinehurst received a total overhaul! (Read more on the 2021 Restoration Day here).

Pinehurst Cemetery in Sept. 2021 (before clean out during Restoration Day)

 Now that the major brush was cleared, they were able to host another Restoration Day in March of 2022 and do some more detailed work around the markers. FPAN staff gave headstone cleaning demonstrations and then turned the volunteers loose to safely clean.

March 2022 Restoration Day in Pinehurst Cemetery

 San Sebastian and Pinehurst are two of Florida’s oldest African American Cemeteries. San Sebastian was established around 1884 for exclusive use by St. Augustine's African-American Protestant community. It's located a mile outside of St. Augustine's historic district, following the national trend of replacing crowded churchyards with spacious rural cemeteries.  Pinehurst Cemetery was established directly behind San Sebastian around 1914.    Both are now owned and maintained by the West Augustine Improvement Association.

If you would like to become a  West Augustine Improvement Association member, or if you would like to support the association's efforts to restore and maintain Florida's oldest African-American cemeteries in any way, please contact Willie Cooper, Sr. at Williecoopersr@yahoo.com. 

The West Augustine Improvement Association also meets every 3rd Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Collier-Blocker-Puryear Park (in the second pavilion) at 10 N Holmes Blvd, St. Augustine. 

The West Augustine Improvement Association is now on Facebook, follow them for updates and new cemetery clean-up events.

 

Volunteers transcribing, measuring and photographing Pinehurst Cemetery markers

First bear on a stick I've recorded in a cemetery

 

 

Text and images (except where noted) by FPAN Staff: Robbie Boggs