DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – Nearly 6 acres of seemingly vacant land in Deerfield Beach is on tap for development, pending the approval from city commissioners. However, the site was once used as a burial ground for family members of an African-American church, which once towered nearby.
The site in question is in the 400 block of Southeast Second Avenue, historically referred to as "the Old Black Cemetery" in city records.
"There's a lot of people buried there, but there's no relatives around to speak up for them," said Velmina Williams-Hamilton, 80, whose grandmother was buried on the property in the early 1900s. "I see signs saying, 'Townhouse building for sale,' or whatever, and I'm saying, 'How (are) they going to build in a cemetery?'"
The parcel of land is privately owned and land owners once allowed the church to bury its members between 1897 and 1939.
"In that time, that was not unusual anywhere -- in at least America," said Amie Kay Tanner, president of the Deerfield Beach Historical Society. "There's not a lot of written history, but we have what people said."
Developers want to build a 69-unit town home community on the property.
"I don't feel good about it because it's a sacred ground," Williams-Hamilton said. "It's where people are buried. You leave them to rest. You don't bother them. But if they move them, you should let somebody know you moved them. But still, that's still the graveyard. I wouldn't want to live there."
The city conducted two land surveys, led by archaeologists, one in 1986 and another in 2005, but after extensive digging, no signs of remains were found.
It is believed the remains were dug up and moved in the early 1970s after a previous property owner bulldozed and cleared away the area. No markers or gravestones have been seen on the site since 1974.
Some historians believe the remains are now at Pineview Cemetery, about a mile away from the Old Black Cemetery, in Deerfield Beach, in unmarked graves.
But no official records have been found to corroborate a move and relatives were never notified of a relocation.
When asked if she believes her grandmother is still buried in the same location, Williams-Hamilton said, "I believe she's still there, yes. Until someone shows me different, that's all I know, that she's there."
Deerfield Beach commissioners were expected to discuss and vote on whether to allow the housing community to build on the property at its regularly scheduled city commission meeting Tuesday night. If passed, the measure would still need to be approved by Broward County commissioners.
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