History of Old Presbyterian Graveyard

Below is a brief history and timeline of the Old Charles Town Presbyterian Cemetery.

1787: Town founder, Charles Washington, sold a lot to the Charles Town Presbyterian Church for £20. A small stone church building was erected, and the grounds became a burial site for early settlers.

1830: A larger stone sanctuary was dedicated to replace the original 1787 structure. 

1851: The Presbyterian congregation moved to a new building on Washington Street, rendering the old stone church surplus. The old building was eventually sold and converted into a carriage factory.

1958: In a highly controversial move that devastated descendants of the area's early families, the burial ground was bulldozed and all the tombstones were removed, leaving the graves unmarked beneath an empty lot.

Around 2018: Charles Town Presbyterian Church considered plans to relocate the remains of the roughly 60 people buried in unmarked graves to another site. This sparked immense community backlash and legal intervention from descendants who felt blindsided. 

2019: To resolve the standoff and protect the site permanently, Charles Town Presbyterian Church formally deeded the land to the nearby Edge Hill Cemetery, which officially took ownership to ensure the sacred space would be protected and memorialized with an interpretive monument.