0325-GCG-FoothillsConservancy_ESG25_12-18 (2) - Flipbook - Page 36
Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina
Rock Hill Cemetery
Restoration
In January, archaeologists pushed groundpenetrating radar devices across the soil at Rock Hill
African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church Cemetery,
now part of Lake James State Park. Each 昀氀icker
on the computer screen marked a grave: some
known, many hidden. For FCNC board member Allen
Fullwood, watching nearby, the moment carried deep
meaning—just a few feet away rests his great-greatgrandmother, Rittie Moore.
“Protecting this place is important, not just for land
the people buried here and the broader Fonta Flora
conservation but for the conservation of history,” says
community they represent.
Fullwood. “All land has a story. This land happened
“Since this gravesite is one of the last remaining
to be a cemetery with multiple stories tied to it, the
stories of every individual and of that community.”
Founded in 1865, Rock Hill AME Church, which was
markers of the Fonta Flora community,” says Brittany
Watkins, FCNC’s Community Engagement Manager,
“it’s an important place to protect to ensure that
also home to Rock Hill School, was a cornerstone for
history is not lost.”
formerly enslaved people and their descendants in
Initial scans in 2007 revealed roughly 175 graves—
the Linville River Township near historic Fonta Flora.
Families built lives, gathered for worship, and laid
loved ones to rest across the road from the church—
today one of western North Carolina’s oldest African
American cemeteries. Fullwood notes, “It was likely
a burial site for enslaved individuals long before the
establishment of the church.”
The hydroelectric dams that created Lake James by
nearly double previous estimates. Thanks to funding
from the Rostan Family Foundation, FCNC was able to
remove hazardous trees that had overgrown the site
and contract with geophysical archaeologist Donald
Rowe to conduct additional surveys, identifying
more than 20 new potential burial sites. That funding
also made possible the creation of a cemetery
management and maintenance plan that will guide
submerging 6,800 acres in the early 1900s fractured
ongoing protection of the site.
this once-thriving rural community. When the
For FCNC, this project re昀氀ects a core belief:
church closed in 1962, only the cemetery remained,
enduring decades of erosion, vandalism, and
neglect. Headstones toppled or vanished and trees
sent roots through graves. Yet descendants like
Fullwood never forgot.
Guided by family stories, they joined with FCNC and
Lake James State Park staff to restore and protect
this sacred ground. Together with volunteers, they’ve
cleared vegetation, stabilized gravestones, and
mapped unmarked graves. This work honors both
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conservation is also cultural. Ongoing stewardship of
the Rock Hill AME Cemetery honors the land of Western
North Carolina while preserving an irreplaceable piece
of African American heritage.
Fullwood views the project as both personal and
collective; “It’s a passion project,” he says—a
collaboration rooted in memory, respect, and
responsibility.
