Carlisle - Lincoln Cemetery Memorial Park

After leaving Newville, our next stop will be Carlisle, PA, where you can find what was once the Lincoln Cemetery.  The Lincoln Cemetery Memorial Park, located at 101 West Penn Street, was an African-American burial ground dating from before the Civil War, making it one of the oldest cemeteries on the tour.

Approximately one hundred people were interred at the cemetery between 1840 and 1902, many of whom who were veterans of the Civil War.  Unfortunately, in the early 1970s, as part of an urban renewal program, Carlisle sought a location for a neighborhood playground.  The location that was selected was the Lincoln Cemetery Memorial Park.  After negotiations and community meetings, it was decided to move the tombstones to Union Cemetery, another burial ground in Carlisle.  The Lincoln Cemetery Memorial Park is now the James Young Memorial Park.  There is a monument located at the former site of the Lincoln Memorial Park commemorating the people that were interred there.