Duke Park in Durham in Durham County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Geer Cemetery
Photographed by Wilhelmina Indermaur
1. Geer Cemetery Marker
Erected 2025 by William G. Pomeroy Foundation. (Marker Number 602.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Cemeteries & Burial Sites. In addition, it is included in the William G. Pomeroy Foundation series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 2024.
Location. 36° 0.644′ N, 78° 53.067′ W. Marker is in Durham, North Carolina, in Durham County. It is in Duke Park. It is on Camden Avenue, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 800 Colonial Street, Durham NC 27701, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Piedmont and in the Research Triangle. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original
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Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Royal Ice Cream Sit-In (approx. 0.9 miles away); John Hope Franklin (approx. 1.2 miles away); Durham County Public Library (approx. 1.3 miles away); Bullington Warehouse (approx. 1.3 miles away); Empowering and Diverse Opportunities (approx. 1.4 miles away); A Legacy of Community and Institutional Connections (approx. 1.4 miles away); Tobacco and E.J. Parrish (approx. 1.4 miles away); Black Wall Street (approx. 1.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Durham.
Also see . . . Geer Cemetery (Wikipedia). Excerpt:
Geer Cemetery (1876–1939) is an African-American cemetery located on Colonial Street between McGill Place and Camden Avenue in northeast Durham, North Carolina. It has also been known as City Cemetery, Old City Cemetery, East Durham Cemetery, and Mason Cemetery. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2024.(Submitted on October 5, 2026.)
It currently occupies about 4 acres (1.6 ha), and contains the graves of over 1,500 African Americans, many born into slavery. It was the first cemetery for African Americans in Durham, and from 1876, when it opened, to 1924 it was the only one. In 1939 it was closed as overcrowded by the health department, although there was a burial in 1944. The city of Durham lists ownership of the cemetery as "Unknown".
In 2004 the cemetery was "heavily overgrown and...nearly invisible"; it was impossible to walk through it. The city, in collaboration with Friends of Geer, a volunteer group, and Keep Durham Beautiful Inc., has cleared the site of trees, litter, and debris, suppressed vine and weed growth, restored tilted and fallen headstones, and smoothed a gravel road through the cemetery.…
Credits. This page was last revised on October 5, 2026. It was originally submitted on October 4, 2026, by Wilhelmina Indermaur of Durham, North Carolina, United States. This page has been viewed 7 times since then. Photo 1. submitted on October 4, 2026, by Wilhelmina Indermaur of Durham, North Carolina, United States. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
