This is one of the oldest extant churches built by the Nova Scotia Black community and has changed almost not at all since its construction. The first blacks to arrive here were Black Loyalist descendants who arrived in 1820.
They erected their first church in 1849, the African Bethel Church not far away, which later burned. Both the African Bethel Church and the United Baptist Church were surrounded by cemeteries and while both church and cemetery survive here, only the cemetery remains at the site of the African Bethel Church. Though there are several headstones in the Bethel cemetery, there are none remaining in this church's cemetery. It is likely that most, if not all, were wooden and have decayed.
While some estimates put the number of burials in this cemetery at around 150, other estimates run as high as 200 and more. The true number may never be known as the earliest known burial records available begin in 1891, when a local undertaking firm began keeping records. Today the only indication that a cemetery is here is a small wooden sign to the side of the church.
Greenville Church Cemetery
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
The Greenville Church Cemetery was established in 1853 when the church it surrounds was built, though there are no remaining grave markers to visibly identify it as a burial ground. It is located on Greenville Road in the rural community of Greenville, Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia. Municipal heritage designation applies to the entire lot surrounding the church.
HERITAGE VALUE
The Greenville Church Cemetery is valued as the burial ground associated with the Greenville African Baptist Church, a municipally and provincially registered heritage property, and as the burial site of more than seventy-five of the community’s residents.
The village of Greenville was originally part of a larger community called Salmon River, and was where the majority of early Black residents in Yarmouth County first settled around 1830. There is little to immediately identify this site as a cemetery, as there are no grave markers remaining as visible evidence of its existence. Any markers there may have been were probably made of wood, and have long since disappeared.
This burial ground was established in 1853, when the church it surrounds was built, however there are no written records indicating how many people were buried here between 1853 and 1891 when a local undertaking firm started keeping records. Only seventy-five names are known for burials between 1891 and 1960, and it is surmised that at least twice that many residents of the community were laid to rest here. Of the seventy-five whose names are known, thirty-six were children under the age of ten years, a testimony to the high mortality rate of children in the 1800s and early 1900s. The majority of the present day residents of the community of Greenville are descendants of the people buried here.
The Greenville Church Cemetery covers approximately eight-thousand square metres of land and surrounds the Greenville African Baptist Church on the west, north and east sides. It is a grass covered area with only a small sign to the west of the church and its heritage property plaque on the east side of the church building identifying it as a cemetery.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
The character-defining elements of the Greenville Church Cemetery include:
- located in the rural community of Greenville;
- location surrounding the Greenville African Baptist Church on the north side of Greenville Road;
- grass covered area on relatively level ground;
- absence of grave markers;
- proximity to a registered heritage church building;
- familial ties between those buried here and current local residents.
From Historic Places Canada