Pine Street African Burial Ground

Until 1990, few people knew the historical significance of the land that had become a residential backyard. That year, an Anthropology professor from SUNY New Paltz led an archaeological survey of the city of Kingston. Old maps of the city indicated a burial ground on the site, and given the age of the map, the professor knew it would likely be unmarked. Research would eventually reveal the site to be a burial ground for people of African descent that was covered by a lumberyard in roughly 1880. Since that time, researchers have worked to acquire and preserve the property. After going into foreclosure, the Kingston Land Trust purchased the lot, which was transferred to Harambee Kingston New York (HKNY) in 2021.

In 1990, Joe Diamond, an Associate Professor of Anthropology at SUNY New Paltz, was working on an archaeological survey of the city of Kingston. Part of the work involved identifying an unmarked cemetery, and as he walked the city’s streets, map in hand, he came to an unassuming back yard that appeared to be in the spot his map indicated as the cemetery. When he approached the owner, the man showed him a box of human bones he’d recently dug up while doing work in his yard. Diamond was right: the yard had clearly been a burial ground at some point in the past.

In the years since the cemetery’s discovery, Diamond and other researchers have conducted studies of the burial ground. They believe that the Pine Street cemetery holds the remains of both slaves and free African Americans. At some point around 1880, a lumberyard was built on the site, and in the years since then, homes and yards have come to occupy the location. Research indicates that the cemetery could occupy the entire block.

There was little interest in the discovery at first, but when the bones were confirmed to be those of humans, the attitude of those in the community changed. For some, the knowledge that slavery had ever been a part of life in New York was a revelation. But researchers have found that by 1746, the population of Ulster County was one-fifth African. Records indicate that the Pine Street burial ground was established in 1750 as a segregated cemetery.

When the property went into foreclosure, preservationists saw an opportunity. It was purchased by the Kingston Land Trust in 2019, with the intention of protecting and preserving the site. In 2021, the organization transferred ownership to Harambee Kingston New York. That organization was founded in 2018 and its mission is to work with local institutions to celebrate and preserve African American history and culture. The Kingston Land Trust will still work to protect the site through a conservation easement.

HKNY plans to eventually open a historical center near the site, while maintaining the back yard as a formal memorial. The organization offers tours of the site and there are also plans for further archaeological work to be carried out at the site.

Update: Future of Pine Street African Burial Ground , Kingston Land Trust . June 22nd 2020. Accessed July 27th 2021. https://kingstonlandtrust.org/news/update-future-pine-st-african-burial-ground.

King, Jesse. Kingston Burial Ground: Reclaiming History , WAMC. March 1st 2019. Accessed July 27th 2021. https://www.wamc.org/post/kingston-burial-ground-reclaiming-history.

African Burial Ground Reaches Historic Milestone, Hudson Valley Press. March 3rd 2021. Accessed July 27th 2021. https://hudsonvalleypress.com/2021/03/03/african-burial-ground-reaches-historic-milestone/.