This African American Burial Site In New York Is A Historical Wonder In A Shopping Center’s Parking Lot
In a place as old as New York, there are many historical sites. Many are in areas you’d expect: our oldest cities, our historic districts, and so on. One historic cemetery that’s in an unexpected spot in New York is the Mount Moor African American Cemetery. This cemetery has been around for over a century and is the final resting place for many war heroes. What’s most notable about Mount Moor, however, is the fact that it’s right in the middle of a shopping mall parking lot.
The Palisades Center is one of the largest shopping malls in New York. It's the eighth-largest mall in the country and has more than 200 restaurants and stores.
The graveyard is the final resting place for many war veterans. The graves include those of veterans from the Civil War, both World Wars, and the Spanish-American War.
Nearly two dozen Civil War veterans are buried in Mount Moor Cemetery. Four of them were born as slaves and fought for their freedom.
When the mall was opened in 1998, the property developers offered to relocate the remains of all buried there. The Mount Moor Cemetery Association refused and so the graves now lie in this parking lot.
Some of the graves were worn with age and damaged by vandals. Last year, volunteers worked together to obtain new headstones to replace the most damaged ones.
There’s something so tragic about the existence of a historic cemetery filled with war veterans haphazardly located in a shopping mall parking lot. Sadly, segregated cemeteries were the norm in America until the mid-1950s, even for war veterans.
Did you know about this historic cemetery in New York located in a parking lot?
Address: Mount Moor Cemetery, West Nyack, NY 10994, USA
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Lisa loves animals and has dogs, rats, cats, guinea pigs, and snakes. Practically all of her free time is spent trapping and fixing stray cats. She also likes reading, playing Pokemon Go, and going to concerts. Her dog Cece is the best dog in the whole world. You can reach Lisa at lsammons@onlyinyourstate.com