The Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground (Richmond's 2nd African Burial Ground) was established by the city of Richmond, Virginia, for the interment of free people of color, and the enslaved. The heart of this now invisible burying ground is located at 1305 N 5th St.

It was created as the replacement for the Burial Ground for Negroes, now also called the Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground, (or African Burial Ground in Shockoe Bottom). Shockoe Bottom was known historically as Shockoe Valley. The Burial Ground for Negroes was closed in 1816 upon the opening of this new African Burying Ground on Shockoe Hill. The Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground is one of Virginia's most endangered historic places. Major threats to the burial ground are the DC2RVA high-speed rail project, the east-west Commonwealth Corridor, the proposed RVA757 Connector, as well as the widening of I-64, and various infrastructure projects.

History Establishment The Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground was established in 1816.The Richmond Enquirer, February 22, 1816, "This is to inform the Inhabitants of the City of Richmond", Chronicling America, Library of CongressYoung, Richard (1816). "Plan of 28 1/2 Acres of ground where on is situated the Poorhouse of the city of Richmond" city of Richmond. It was a segregated part of the Shockoe Hill Burying Ground, also known as the Shockoe Hill Cemetery, a municipal burying ground owned and operated by the City of Richmond. It was managed by the Superintendent of the Shockoe Hill Burying Ground, who was also the Superintendent of the Poorhouse (with the exception of the years 1863-1867 during which time the positions were separated) and the City HospitalThe Daily Dispatch, May 19, 1863, "City Council", Chronicling America, Library of CongressThe Daily Dispatch, June 18, 1867, "Local Matters", Chronicling America, Library of Congress The Poorhouse was also called the Almshouse. The burial ground was overseen by the Shockoe Hill Burying Ground Committee, which was a standing committee of the Richmond City Council. The African Burying Ground was active from its opening in February 1816 until its closure by the city due to overcrowded conditions in June 1879. The land that comprises this long unacknowledged burial ground, contains nothing on its surface that would cause it to be visibly recognizable as a cemetery today. Its original two one acre plots are located at the northeastern corner of 5th and Hospital St., across the road from the Hebrew Cemetery. It was greatly increased in size over time, expanding in every direction. By 1850 its grounds encompassed as many as 15 acres. Later maps indicate an even greater expansion, to slightly over 31 acres.

Maps In the 1870s it came to be labeled on maps as Potter's Field, until it last appeared in 1905.Beers, F. W. (1876). "Outline Map of Cities in Richmond and Manchester and Vicinity", Virginia Memory, Library of Virginia.Highland Park Company (1891). "Map of the Property of the Highland Park Company showing its location with reference to the City of Richmond", University of Virginia Special Collections. The 1905 map showed that it extended west behind The Almshouse to 2nd St, and north to the Bacon's Quarter Branch.Scrivernor, Arthur, T. Crawford Redd & Bro. surveyors and engineers (1905). "Map of Richmond and Surroundings", Valentine Museum. Some maps show it extending to the east almost as far as 8th St. Earlier maps show it by various names. On the 1816 Plan of the City of Richmond Property, the two one-acre plots were labeled "Burying Ground for Free People of Colour", and the "Burying Ground for Negroes". On the 1817 Map of the City of Richmond, it appears as the "Free People of Colour's B.G." and "Negro(e's) B.G.".Young, Richard (1817). "Map of the city of Richmond and its jurisdiction including Manchester", Library of Virginia. The 1835 Plan of the City of Richmond has it recorded as the "Grave Yard for Free People of Colour" and "For Slaves". On that map the burying ground for slaves had been increased by about 1.3 additional acres. The 1842 Bates Map depicts it as "The Burying Ground for Coloured Persons" and "the Burying Ground for Slaves".Bates, Micajah (1842). "A Connected Plat of the City Property near the Poor House", City of Richmond On the 1849 Plan of Richmond, it is referred to as one place, and was called the "Burying-ground for Coloured Persons". In 1850 the Common Council increased the burying-ground for colored persons by 9 acres in addition to the grounds of the City Hospital. On the 1853 Smith's Map of Henrico County, Virginia, it appears twice. On the county portion of the map it appears under the "Shockoe Hill Burying Ground". On the separate city of Richmond portion of the map it appears as the "African Burying Ground". On the 1856 Map of the city of Richmond, Henrico County, the entire burying ground (black and white) appears under one name, without the additional labels showing its segregated status. Though still segregated, it appears simply as the "Shockoe Hill Burying Ground".Map of the city of Richmond, Henrico County (1856). , by William Slides, Google Arts & Culture, original source Library of Virginia. This is also the name under which it appears in the majority of records, such as interment reports.Interments, The Daily Dispatch, January 10, 1855, Chronicling America, Library of CongressBill of Mortality, The Daily Dispatch, May 9, 1856, Chronicling America, Library of Congress It is also true for some maps from the 1860s.United States Coast Survey. (1864) Map of the city of Richmond, Virginia. [Washington, D.C., U.S. Coast Survey] [Map] Retrieved from the Library of Congress. However; it is from the combination of the two names under which it appears on the 1853 Map that the name "Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground" was derived.

City Hospital grounds During the Civil War, the bodies of more than 500 deceased Union Army Prisoners of War were interred in the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground. Shortly after the war their remains were removed from the African Burying Ground and then re-interred in the Richmond National Cemetery. The majority of the soldiers had been buried to the north, and to the east of the City Hospital (for smallpox). Interments were also made in the vicinity of the Poorhouse. It was reported that 428 soldiers were removed from the City Hospital, and 128 from the vicinity of the Poorhouse."Roll of honor: names of soldiers who died in defense of the American union, interred in the national [and other] cemeteries" by United States, Quartermaster's Dept (1865) Published by, Government Printing Office, Washington DCPhiladelphia Inquirer, April 11, 1865 "From Another Correspondent""Statement of the Disposition of Some of the Bodies of Deceased Union Soldiers and Prisoners of War Whose Remains Have Been Removed to National Cemeteries in the Southern and Western States: Volumes 1-4" United States. Army. Quartermaster's Department, (Jan 1868) Published by, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC The City Hospital building was converted into the Colored Almshouse, which then opened its doors in April 1868.The Daily Dispatch, March 17, 1869 "Almshouse Report", Chronicling America, Library of Congress The City Hospital was included on the 1842 Bates Map, and may have been constructed about that time. It was located directly to the east of the walled Shockoe Hill Cemetery. Its grounds were added to the African Burying Ground by the City Council in 1850. The 1816 plan of the city property shows that the northern grounds of the hospital were already in use for the interment of paupers who had died at the Poorhouse, both black and white. This early part of the burial ground extended across present day N 4th St.

Desecrations and threats The burying ground has suffered several desecrations. Throughout its years of active operation, it was a main target for body snatching by and for the medical colleges, especially the Medical College of Virginia and the University of Virginia.McInnis, Maurie D. and Nelson, Louis P. (Edited by) Educated in Tyranny: Slavery at Thomas Jefferson's University, University of Virginia Press Charlottesville and London (2019).Berry, Daina Ramey The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation, Beacon Press, Boston (2017).Koste, Jodi L., "Artifacts and Commingled Skeletal Remains from a Well on the Medical College of Virginia Campus: Anatomical and Surgical Training in Nineteenth-Century Richmond", Virginia Commonwealth University Archives. It suffered from the explosion of a gunpowder magazine on April 3, 1865, and the later construction of two new powder magazines in 1867. As a cemetery, it was abandoned by the city and visually erased from the landscape. All of its grave markers were removed. It was rendered unrecognizable, removed from maps, and almost completely forgotten. Its grounds were divided up, most were sold and others gifted to new owners. In addition, it has had roads, a railway, and the highway run through it grounds. An old Sunoco gas station sits upon a portion of its original 2 acres, along with a billboard; while other parts lie beneath Interstate 64, 4th St., 5th St., 7th St. Hospital St. and also the railroad tracks. Three approaching threats to the burial ground are DC2RVA passenger rail (high-speed rail), the east-west Commonwealth Corridor, and the proposed widening of I-64.Smith, Ryan K. "Disappearing The Enslaved: The Destruction and Recovery of Richmond's Second African Burial Ground", Buildings & Landscapes: Journal of the Vernacular Architecture Forum Vol. 27, No. 1 (Spring 2020), pp. 17-45, University of Minnesota Press.Yeager, Jordy. "Passenger Rail Project Slated To Run Through Richmond African American Graveyard", (July 25, 2019) npr news. Lazarus, Jeremy M.,"Historic site review slows rail lines planned over historic Black cemetery"(April 22, 2021), Richmond Free Press The most recently known appears to be the installation of underground cables which were run through the burial ground in the area of Hospital St. and 7th St. in early 2022. Plans proposed in 2024 for additional infrastructure work at the intersection of N 7th St., and Hospital St. by the city, if carried out as planned will also harm the burial ground.

One of the newer threats to the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground is mis-identification and confusion. In the fall of 2022 the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground was confused in the media with the Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground, though the distance between them is more than a mile. It was reported multiple times that the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground was the burial ground located next to Lumpkin's Jail. Historically, it is the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground, that was the active municipal burial ground for the city of Richmond for African-Americans during the time that Lumpkin's Jail was in operation. But physically, it is the older African Burial Ground in Shockoe Bottom (which was closed in 1816) that is located next to Lumpkin's Slave Jail.

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