MELBOURNE, Fla. – The city of Melbourne has launched a study of a historic cemetery.
Through a grant, the project aims to determine the Line Street Cemetery’s boundaries.
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According to a social media post, the city utilized ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to map the area more effectively and determine if there were additional burials outside of the fenced area that currently delineates the “known” cemetery boundaries, as well as the location and number of burials within the fenced area.
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Preliminary findings revealed there were 13 burials within the fenced boundaries and an additional 31 burials outside the fence. The city said the area is now temporarily marked with flags and markers identifying these locations.
Located on WH Jackson Street, Line Street Cemetery was established in 1901 and was originally recorded as a historic resource in 2011. At one point, the cemetery became overgrown with Brazilian pepper trees, weeds and trash. In 1980, a Boy Scout group spent three weekends cleaning up the cemetery.
The city said the study is the first task of the “Abandoned African-American Cemeteries” grant that was awarded to Melbourne in May.
Once the city receives a final report of the findings from the GPR survey, it will formalize the location of all burials and seek further preservation strategies.
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