Byberry Township African American Burial Ground

On January 17th, 1780, Byberry Quaker Meeting purchased about 330 square feet of farmland from their neighbor to the northeast, Thomas Townsend. This land was then consecrated with the sole purpose to remain a final resting place for free and formerly enslaved Africans who lived in Byberry. The site’s original name was The Burying Place For All Free Negroes or People of Color within Byberry. Today, it is now named The Byberry Township African American Burial Ground.

The only known burial record for this site was for a formerly enslaved man named Mr. Jim Walton. Mr. Jim Walton was enslaved by Mr. Daniel Walton (of the 2nd generation of Byberry Waltons). Mr. Jim Walton lived in Byberry when the land was still a dense forest. His primary work was at a saw mill processing timber. While not much is known about Mr. Jim Walton, it is known that he was enslaved to Daniel Walton in 1767 (and possibly earlier) and that he was freed sometime shortly after the passing of his former enslaver. Jim was buried in the year 1780–the same year that Pennsylvania passed the Act of Gradual Abolition. His burial was the first and only known burial at the Byberry Township African American Burial Ground.

The deed transfer was never recorded by the city, thus leading to a break in stewardship for 43 years. During this time, the site succumbed to littering, dumping and the overgrowth of all plant life in the area.

The burial ground is located at the edge of Benjamin Rush State Park and can be accessed via a path leading directly from the park to the site. There is no signage to direct visitors to the burial ground, so it can only be found by those who know the way.

Thanks to the voluntary research and advocacy work of Joseph Menkevich, the Byberry Township African American Burial Ground was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 2015.

The work of memorializing this sacred site resumed in 2022 through this project by the Society to Preserve Philadelphia African American Assets (SPPAAA) and The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia (PAGP). This work was funded by the Henry A. Jordan Preservation Excellence grant from The National Trust for Historic Preservation. The pages that follow will present the progress made, relationships formed, and next steps to bring this project closer to its ultimate goals; finding a permanent steward for the land, determining whether there were any additional burials on the site and creating a memorial to honor the free and formerly enslaved Africans interred at the Byberry Township African American Burial Ground.

             







The following news stories have been published over the course of two years to raise awareness on the history and status of the Byberry Township African American Burial Ground:

            - Jan. 2013 - A bit of history lies buried in Benjamin Rush State Park - Northeast Times Star (by John Loftus)

            - Feb. 2013 - African American Burial Ground at Benjamin Rush State Park - Frankford Gazette (by Joseph Menkevich)

            - Feb. 2022 - Black History Month: Local Researcher Hopes Historic Marker Gets Erected At Forgotten African American Cemetery - CBS Philadelphia

            - March 2023 - A centuries-old Black burial ground in Northeast Philadelphia was nearly forgotten. Preservationists want to honor those buried there. - Philadelphia Inquirer (by Kevin Riordan)

            - June 2023 -(Video Coverage) The Preservationist Efforts To Restore a Forgotten African American Burial Ground by Alissa Clausell (a Temple University Student)