New owner in Charlotte preserves historic Black cemetery: ‘We can’t forget them’

For a long time, Wayne Johnson feared that his family history in Charlotte would become a parking lot. Or an apartment building. Or some other entity that would support the city’s growth and development.

See, the 72-year-old Johnson can trace his family line back to the 1800s, through family tales and their connection with St. Lloyd Presbyterian Church, one of the first Black churches in Charlotte.

Though the church has longed closed, a pair of cemeteries holding 250 people and their stories still remain. One in SouthPark near Sharon and Colony roads. The other in Grier Heights off Wendover and Marvin roads, where Johnson’s great-great-grandfather is buried.

Both are prime destinations for Charlotte’s growth. And in recent years, development has crawled extremely close to the Grier Heights cemetery.

But on Wednesday, Johnson’s fears were quelled. A foundation he helped create is now the proud owner of both cemeteries.

The two cemeteries are now owned by the St. Lloyd Presbyterian Cemetery Foundation, a nonprofit created to care for, preserve and share the history of the cemeteries. It was given ownership of rights of the Grier Heights site by Thompson Child and Family Focus, which provides mental health and social services for children and their families.

The cemetery is behind Thompson’s facility at 769 N. Wendover Road, which used to be home to Grier Heights Presbyterian Church, the second iteration of St. Lloyd Presbyterian.

On Wednesday, community members gathered to celebrate the ownership transfer.

“The fear of it going away is gone. It won’t happen,” Johnson shouted and clapped as he walked through the tall trees surrounding his family’s history.

“It’s off the table now, and all of this,” Johnson gestured around joyfully, “it’ll be benches and pathways and a place for folks to take a moment and just breathe in the awesomeness of God and our people.”

A freed people and a Charlotte church

After the Civil War, Black people began establishing their new lives, creating neighborhoods and new houses of worship.

The first all-Black Presbyterian church in the U.S. was Catawba Presbytery, created in Charlotte in 1866, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission.

A year later, Black members of the Sharon Presbyterian Church, in what is now SouthPark, sought to build their own church.

With the help of Catawba Presbytery, the group chose a spot on Sharon and Colony roads to build their congregation. On Feb. 18, 1868, a deed was signed, an acre was purchased for $25 and the parcel became the St. Lloyd Presbyterian Church and accompanying burial ground.

But in the late 1920s, the congregation was pushed out due to growing racial terrorism. The SouthPark church was burned down and the land was sold to former North Carolina governor Cameron Morrison, a white supremacist.

In 1926 the congregation moved to Grier Heights, a Black neighborhood founded around 1892 by Sam Billings, a formerly enslaved man.

And that’s the church Johnson attended. Going to service and tending to his family’s graves with his father.

The church closed in 1966.

Charlotte’s development & encroachment

But the St. Lloyd Presbyterian cemeteries remained. Though not without effort.

The first sign of development encroachment came in 2004. Clay Grubb, CEO of Grubb Properties, purchased several parcels in SouthPark with the intention of building a mixed-use development.

Right near the larger St. Lloyd Presbyterian Cemetery.

But when Grubb learned of the cemetery, he went to work on his own preservation efforts. He started a nonprofit called the Grubb Preservation Foundation and applied for a landmark designation. That was approved in 2005.

However, growth continued in Charlotte and so did the chances of encroachment.

In 2021, DreamKey Partners had begun working on a 70-unit affordable housing complex in Grier Heights. The proposed site circled around the cemetery.

Johnson became a louder voice for preservation, and DreamKey, along with Thompson, heard him loud and clear.

Johnson partnered with Grubb to combine the preservation efforts on the two cemeteries. The pair created the St. Lloyd Presbyterian Cemetery Foundation in 2023.

Cemetery ownership and preservation efforts

Ground penetrating radar studies performed at both sites show that there are about 184 graves in SouthPark and 62 in Grier Heights.

And for the last few years, Johnson and the foundation have worked on cleaning up the Grier Heights site. They’ve also worked on gaining ownership of the cemetery.

Ownership of the SouthPark cemetery was transferred to the foundation last year.

Now, it was time for the Grier Heights site. Talks with Thompson also began last year and have finally come to fruition.

The plan is to turn both sites into parks. There will be sitting areas, along with walking paths. QR Codes will be placed throughout the cemeteries providing information on the church, the congregation and the cemeteries’ history.

There also will be guided walking tours. Right now, the foundation is raising money to continue cleaning up the sites and constructing the parks.

Once complete, the cemeteries will be outdoor museums offering serene third-places and a piece of preserved history.

“It’s not a parking lot”

On a slightly chilled day, in the back of Thompson’s facility, a group of about 20 people looked out onto a picturesque fall tree scape.

Amid those soaring trees and bed of red and gold leaves lay community members’ history.

There’s a Bob Crow Heath, who passed in Dec. 1950. And a Lucinda Davis who passed in 1960. Then there’s Mamie and Nelson Walker, Johnson’s great-great-grandparents.

Many of the graves are unmarked, but the foundation’s goal is to find the graves and the stories behind those who are buried there.

“We learned so much about who we were … visiting St. Lloyd’s,” Johnson said. “I’m standing on the shoulders of people who had to endure and endure. I’m free. I was born free. And I remain free because of the freedom they fought to give me.”

Several community members spoke at the event. Mark Price echoed Johnson’s sentiment on learning who he and his family were through visiting the church and the cemetery.

Stacey Price Brown, the development chair of the foundation and president of the Grier Heights Community Improvement Organization, said the ownership transfer is just the start of preserving the community’s history.

“This is more than a cemetery. It is a living archive of who we are and how far we’ve come,” Price Brown said. “Today’s land transfer is more than a legal act. It’s an act of remembrance and renewal. It’s our promise to protect the sacred ground, to honor our ancestors, and to implement a plan to ensure their stories continue to inspire others.”

As Johnson walked around the cemetery, he pointed to his great-great-grandfather’s grave. He’s working on restoring the grave, which is currently marked by a plant.

Johnson said he’s a no-nonsense guy. He wants to get things done, and he wants to get them done fast.

But he’s got time now. The cemetery isn’t going anywhere.

“It’s not a parking lot. There won’t be a parking lot or an apartment building on top of my blood,” Johnson said. “A lot of times we neglect our history, but this is bigger than us. This is people’s live and people’s stories, and they endured a lot so we can be free.

“We can’t forget them.”

Desiree Mathurin

The Charlotte Observer

Desiree Mathurin covers growth and development for The Charlotte Observer. The native New Yorker returned to the East Coast after covering neighborhood news in Denver at Denverite and Colorado Public Radio. She’s also reported on high school sports at Newsday and southern-regional news for AP. Desiree is exploring Charlotte and the Carolinas, and is looking forward to taking readers along for the ride. Send tips and coffee shop recommendations.