By Mike Conley/The Mcdowell News, Marion, NC - Friday May 9, 2025

Anew sign has been designed to tell the history behind the Morehead Cemetery, a historically Black burial place across from Oak Grove Cemetery in Marion.
The sign was presented to the Marion City Council at a regular meeting on Tuesday.


Abigail Gillespie, a North Carolina Fellow through the UNC School of Government in Chapel Hill, worked with the city on the project.
Believed to have been established in the 1880s, the Morehead Cemetery is primarily the final resting place of people who were directly or indirectly connected to the Carson and Greenlee families, either by birth or through enslavement. Genealogical research has confirmed that at least 394 people are buried there, though the true number is probably higher due to incomplete records.
Some of the graves there are believed to be unmarked. In other cases, a single marker represents an entire family.

The earliest recorded burial is Alford Thalley, who died in 1888. The longest-lived person interred there was Lucinda Greenlee, who passed away in 1895 at the age of 110, according to the new sign for the cemetery.

Morehead Cemetery holds 23 men who served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Among them, six men fought in World War I and 12 served in World War II.

The Morehead Cemetery, which was traditionally Black, and Oak Grove Cemetery, which was traditionally white, were separated for many years by the Southern Railway’s Peavine Rail line.

The Morehead Cemetery is now restored and properly maintained through the efforts of McDowell Cemetery Association Inc. and the city of Marion. There is a pathway off the Peavine Trail which goes to the Morehead Cemetery.

This descriptive and detailed sign researched by Gillespie will tell visitors the story behind this historic burial place. The sign was made in partnership with the McDowell Cemetery Association (which maintains traditional Black cemeteries in Marion), the McDowell Trails Association and the city of Marion. Funding was provided by the Rotary Club of Marion.

Gillespie presented the proposed sign to council members for consideration. She said she is working with West Marion Inc. on an oral history project with the alumni of Hudgins School and Mountain View School, which were the schools for Black people during the time of segregation.
Council commended Gillespie for her work on this effort.