Documenting the Seneca Stonecutter’s Cemetery

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Located in Poolesville, Maryland just west of Seneca Creek is the Seneca Stonecutter’s Cemetery—locally referred to as the “Clipper” Cemetery in reference to a surname on several of the headstones. While there are no trails or markers leading to the cemetery which lies on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, this cemetery has long been recognized as an early African American burial ground associated with quarry and canal workers. Originally affiliated with the Potomac Grove Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (CME), now the Seneca Community Church, many parishioners have relatives interred at the Stonecutter’s Cemetery. Park archaeologists have recently organized an effort to map the entirety of the cemetery using total station GPS data. 138 features including headstones, depressions, and possible markers were identified and uploaded to a GIS map in order to visualize the complete layout of the cemetery and to find patterns associated with burial layouts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• 2022 SHA Poster Submissions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology