Near Thurmont in Frederick County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
An Unquiet Place
Catoctin Furnace African American Cemetery Interpretive Trail
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, October 18, 2021
1. An Unquiet Place Marker
"An unquiet place…a path bisects it and there are ore pits to the north and south…even in death there was no rest…"
—Elizabeth A. Comer, an archaeologist and secretary of the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, 2008
Do you hear the constant hum of noise? This is traffic on US Route 15, also known as the Catoctin Mountain Highway. The cemetery would not have been much quieter when the furnace was in operation because it was located next to an active ore pit and had a pathway running through it. Why do you think the cemetery was placed on a hill overlooking an ore pit and positioned to be visible to strangers and slaveowners? What does the noisy and very public nature of this space tell us about the life and death of enslaved ironworkers? How would the cemetery be different in daytime and at night? What might a funeral have been like?
Catoctin Cemetery
Shhh!
Quiet yourself.
No talkin up here.
whatever you doin
you got to quit it now.
This here be our Ian.
bought wit our life.
They weren't shamed to do it,
an we ain't shamed to tell it.
Ever since we could stan
till we couldn't stan nomore.
Click or scan to see
this page online
We done migrated
gainst our will
come over in ships
shackled, chained, starved, beaten.
Some made it.
Soldanbought. Boughtansold
ended up here.
This is where we lay,
We was worked like mules
owned like dogs
fed like hogs
hunted like deer
skinned like buffalo
hung like bats
shot like wolves.
You got to walk careful
You got to walk quiet.
This we be.
Shhhh!
[Captions:]
» (Top right) 90 local quartzite burial markers were identified during the 1979 archaeological investigation. Each was carefully documented but no markings were observed. Markers from the excavated graves were placed around trees in the undisturbed area of the cemetery. Photograph by Sam Yu, October 16, 2016, The Frederick News-Post.
» Text taken from “Catoctin Cemetery”, published in Catoctin SlaveSpeak, by Elayne Bond Hyman (2020).
» (Right) Artist's recreation of the cemetery showing in situ markers. (Lucy Irwin, watercolor, 2018).
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Anthropology & Archaeology • Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Industry & Commerce.
Location. 39° 34.72′ N,
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, October 18, 2021
2. An Unquiet Place Marker
Regionally, this marker is in the Washington Metropolitan Area and in Central Maryland. It is also in the American Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies and also the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Return of Names (here, next to this marker); Erasure and Rediscovery (here, next to this marker); Dynamic Nature of History (a few steps from this marker); Who Built this Village? (within shouting distance of this marker); Secondary Industries and the Mill Pond (within shouting distance of this marker); Resources: Use—Reuse—Recycle
Photographed by Adam Margolis, September 20, 2025
3. An Unquiet Place Marker
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, October 18, 2021
4. Artist's Recreation of the Cemetery
Showing in situ Markers
Showing in situ Markers
Watercolor by Lucy Irwin, 2018.Close-up of image on marker
Photographed by Allen C. Browne, October 18, 2021
5. U S - 15
As seen from the Catoctin Furnace African American Cemetery Trail.
Credits. This page was last revised on May 18, 2026. It was originally submitted on October 29, 2021, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. This page has been viewed 292 times since then and 16 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 29, 2021, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. 3. submitted on May 13, 2026, by Adam Margolis of Mission Viejo, California. 4, 5. submitted on October 29, 2021, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
