The Union Cemetery was established in 1905 because the African-American community of Carlisle wanted to ensure that they had sole control over this cemetery. The location for this cemetery was the former Thompson Woods, which belonged to Robert Thompson.
The Union Cemetery is divided into five sections. Sections A and B contain two hundred and ten lots, Section C contains one hundred and eighteen lots, and Sections D and E are located at the front and back ends of the cemetery. The Union Cemetery was owned and operated by the Thompson family for over seventy-five years. There are over three hundred tombstones in the Union Cemetery, including the tombstones moved from their former location at the Lincoln Cemetery. There are veterans interred here from every war the United States fought in since 1860.
Other Information
* If you make the trip to Carlisle, be sure to check out the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission marker located at the Bethel A.M.E. Church, at 131 East Pomfret Street.
As both the former Lincoln Cemetery and Union Cemetery are rich in African-American history, so is this particular church. The text reads: Among the earliest (c. 1820) African American congregations located west of the Susquehanna River. The site of Underground Railroad activity. Abolitionists John Peck and John B. Vashon were members. A.M.E. national Bishops Daniel Payne and Wills Nazrey were associated with the church.
The church's website has a nice history of the congregation; read it here.
T0 continue the tour, click here.