WEST NYACK – A small piece of American history can be found at Mount Moor, a black cemetery on the National Registry of Historic Places that has survived unscathed the ravages of time, the construction of a massive shopping center around it and a change of ownership.
The cemetery is the final resting place for men who escaped slavery to fight in the Union Army in the Civil War, for Buffalo soldiers from the Spanish-American War, and for matriarchs of the black families who settled in the Nyacks.
Mount Moor had already fallen into disrepair by the 1990s when the Palisades Center was planned. The fight to preserve the cemetery resulted in the shopping center being built around the hillside property. In the years that followed, the cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Friends of Mount Moor Cemetery and the City of Clarkstown have created improvements and new opportunities.
Supporters hope that government funding can be made available to finance technology such as ground-penetrating radar to locate unmarked graves. And they want the history of the cemetery and the stories buried there to become part of history classes in schools, universities and libraries.
Mount Moor reverted to the ownership of the city of Clarkstown in 2020 after its charter expired. This is not uncommon for older, smaller cemeteries, especially as family memories fade, said Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann.
Friends group has brought about improvements at Mount Moor
Former board members formed the Friends of Mount Moor, which, along with the city and local businesses, has pushed forward many improvement projects. Some of the work accomplished: 13 new headstones were placed in the cemetery off the Palisades Center ring road and many of them were restored; the iron gate was replaced and a gravel path paved; new signage helps people recognize the location and historical significance of the cemetery.
The cemetery hosts events for Veterans Day and Memorial Day, the latter of which is particularly poignant because it originally began as Decoration Day, when formerly enslaved African Americans honored Union soldiers who died in the Civil War.
But those committed to preserving Mount Moor hope for more.
Government funding recently allocated to several so-called abandoned cemeteries in Clarkstown, including Mount Moor, could help fund technologies such as ground-penetrating radar.
And the group of friends hopes to be able to pass on the history and knowledge that the cemetery holds.
“We want local libraries and schools, from elementary to college, to see us as an opportunity to bring history and civics to life for the public and students,” said Bill Batson, a Nyack artist and author and incoming president of the Friends of Mount Moor. “A walk through Mount Moor is like paying homage to extraordinary men and women who witnessed moments that shaped American history and shaped our present.”
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A USA TODAY Network New York database has found 23 historic African-American burial sites in New York. It’s likely that every centuries-old town, village or hamlet has a similar site.
“Racial segregation applied not only to the living but also to the dead,” Batson said.
Black graves were built on and sometimes only discovered when the bulldozers came. Sometimes they were not documented for years after they were removed, or often not uncovered at all.
Mount Moor faced its own threat in the 1990s when the Palisades Center was built. Hezekiah Easter, the first black elected official in Rockland County, World War II veteran and Renaissance man, led the fight against developers’ idea to move the cemetery. The shopping center grew up around the cemetery.
Easter was the last to be buried there.
The deed for Mount Moor dates back to 1849. The cemetery’s census population is said to be 341 – but records of African-American burial sites are often lacking information or missing information altogether. Cortlandt resident Bill Stump, a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, used newspaper obituaries and other documents to find out who was at Mount Moor. Attorneys and twins Alice Crowe and Alicia Crowe also had amassed extensive information.
About 32 war veterans are buried in Mount Moor.
“Anywhere you see a flag with a black medallion” marks the grave of a veteran, said Ed England, president of the Friends of Mount Moor.
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Because there are no cemetery records, the locations of graves are often inaccurate.
On a recent visit, England pointed north up the slope of the cemetery to a row of brilliant white headstones marking the “Unknown Eight.” Although documents show that these veterans were buried at Mount Moor, the location of their graves is unknown.
Even if the city can get state funding for the technology to pinpoint the exact grave locations, it won’t be able to show who was buried where. But it would help create a digital footprint that will help tell the stories Mount Moor currently keeps hidden.
Hoehmann noted that only a fraction of the available funding will likely be used for Mount Moor—other cemeteries now owned by the city, including Nanuet Cemetery and Old Nyack Cemetery, are also eligible. That’s because the Friends of Mount Moor group took such care in restoring the site.
England said the city and many businesses in town, including Oak Hill Cemetery in Nyack, have supported the effort. “Everything I’ve asked for has been done.”
Hoehmann said the city was meeting England’s demands. “It offers the kind of dignity that these people unfortunately did not have in their lives.”
This article originally appeared in the Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Historic Mount Moor Black Cemetery in West Nyack brings history to life
