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Huntersville in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
 

The Oldest Cemetery and the Walls

 
 
The Oldest Cemetery and the Walls Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, February 4, 2013
1. The Oldest Cemetery and the Walls Marker
Inscription.
You are standing before the oldest continuously existing human institution in northern Mecklenburg County: Hopewell Presbyterian Church. There were seven churches in this southern region of North Carolina Piedmont before the Revolutionary War. Called the “sister churches”, they were all Presbyterian because most of the original European settlers in this area were Scots-Irish Presbyterians from Northern Ireland. For more information on the church building itself, please see the visitor station on the west side of the church.

The oldest grave in this cemetery is dated 1775. Burials were performed here regularly until 1840 when a new cemetery was started on the back side of the church buildings. Archaeologists and infrared photography indicated there are graves within most of the gaps between the tombstones. That is, some graves were never marked. Others were marked with simple fieldstones. A few may have been delineated with wooden markers which decayed with time.

This cemetery contains the third highest concentration of box markers in the State of North Carolina. These are the ones that appear to be rectangular stone boxes. There are no bodies within the boxes as everyone is buried underground. Look closely and you can find evidence of what was called “table markers” as well. These looked like
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stone table tops held upright by six stone legs. These two styles were part of a “neo-classical revival”, which means that there was renewed interest in ancient Greek and Roman designs. Back in the early 1800’s when those markers were installed, they were worth the equivalent of what the average family was paying for a house – proof of the early wealth of this community.

If you are searching for ancestors or for historic persons, go near the front of the church building. There you can find giant tablets that have a map and numerical listing of the graves in this cemetery.

The stone walls that you see on both sides of Beatties Ford Road consists of stones originally stacked in a wall that went all the way around this cemetery. You can see this wall in the background of the photograph above. The records state that this wall was erected to “keep out children and livestock.”

In 1928, the North Carolina Department of Transportation was beginning to hard surface many of the rural roads in the state. Churches with stone walls were solicited to donate them to the cause as the stones were crushed for the surfacing of the roads. Ramah Presbyterian Church on the east side of Huntersville donated their wall, but a son of this church, E.L. Baxter Davidson, asked that the stones be given to him. He constructed this wall in addition to other
The Oldest Cemetery and the Walls Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, February 4, 2013
2. The Oldest Cemetery and the Walls Marker
walls, columns, and historic monuments along Beatties Ford Road. He also created and erected Hornet’s Nest mileage signs the whole length of Beatties Ford Road. The only one remaining in public is set into this wall just past the church sign. See if you can find mile marker #11, exactly eleven miles from the square of Trade and Tryon.

Near the church building, you can see the gate to the cemetery. A slave named Lewis Phifer carved the gateposts. One of the mysteries of Hopewell is where were the church’s enslaved members buried? Usually they were interned outside the walls of the main cemetery, but archaeologists and infrared experts have been unable to find evidence of such burials. The only other option is slave cemeteries on the master’s land scattered throughout the community. For instance, there is the McCoy Cemetery on McCoy Road, an easy distance from here.

Feel free to explore the rest of the campus, and you will find other visitor stations like this one.

Originally a stepping stone to the Potts house on Patterson Road, this stone may have previously been a front step to Hopewell Presbyterian Church or Bethel Presbyterian Church.

 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial SitesChurches & Religion. A significant historical year for this entry is 1775.
 
Location. 35° 21.942′ 
Marker at the Hopewell Presbyterian Church image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, February 4, 2013
3. Marker at the Hopewell Presbyterian Church
N, 80° 53.894′ W. Marker is in Huntersville, North Carolina, in Mecklenburg County. Marker can be reached from the intersection of Beatties Ford Road and Sample Road, on the right when traveling north. Marker is located in front of the Hopewell Presbyterian Church. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 10500 Beaties Ford Road, Huntersville NC 28078, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. William Bain Alexander (within shouting distance of this marker); John McKnitt Alexander (within shouting distance of this marker); General William Lee Davidson (within shouting distance of this marker); “Upping Block” (within shouting distance of this marker); William Graham (within shouting distance of this marker); Hopewell Presbyterian Church (within shouting distance of this marker); In Memory of the Revolutionary War Patriots of Hopewell Presbyterian Church (within shouting distance of this marker); The Servant Entrance (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Huntersville.
 
More about this marker. A photograph of the Hopewell Church taken August 22, 1915 appears at the top of the marker.
 
Hopewell Presbyterian Church image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, February 4, 2013
4. Hopewell Presbyterian Church
Cemetery Gate image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, February 4, 2013
5. Cemetery Gate
The cemetery gate and gateposts that were carved by Lewis Phifer can be seen here.
Hopewell Cemetery Walls image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, February 4, 2013
6. Hopewell Cemetery Walls
The stone walls discussed on the marker are seen here along Beatties Ford Road.
Box Marker in Hopewell Cemetery image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, February 4, 2013
7. Box Marker in Hopewell Cemetery
The grave of Gen. William Lee Davidson has one of the “table markers” mentioned on the marker.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on February 12, 2013, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 884 times since then and 77 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on February 12, 2013, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.

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Mar. 19, 2024