Abandoned slave graveyard discovery near school site halts construction
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CHEROKEE COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — Plans are in the works to build a new School of Innovation and Technology in Cherokee County, North Carolina.
But now, the Cherokee County School Board is exercising due diligence after members became aware of an abandoned African-American slave graveyard that is known to be nearby.
This topic was under discussion at Thursday night’s meeting of the board, which local radio station WKRK streamed on its Facebook page. Watch it here. Discussion of the abandoned graves begins 31 minutes in.
School Board Attorney Dean Shatley told board members that the state’s archeology office and historic preservation office have both been contacted.
Shatley said the abandoned gravesite is on the other side of Highway 64 from the construction site, and says when the Department of Transportation built Highway 64, they became aware of the site, and built the highway around it.
One board member said the property was where a Confederate general once called home, and it’s believed that the remains in the graveyard are those of the people he enslaved. State officials have not disclosed the exact location of the graveyard, in order to keep potential scavengers away, according to Shatley.
No dirt has been disturbed yet at the school construction site, but Shatley told board members that if contractors do discover any remains they know they’re required to stop construction immediately. State archeological and historic commission officials would then be notified before proceeding.
“I think we’re gonna be prepared in the small likelihood that something does happen, but otherwise I feel pretty confident about moving forward.” Shatley told board members.
Many members wanted to be sure the project would not be too far along before a discovery halts construction, with the potential for the loss of money already spent. Others expressed concern about potential “PR problems” surrounding the site.
Board members recommended that the board regularly seeks guidance from the state on how to proceed — even though, as Shatley pointed out, the board could move forward with construction without doing so.
“Our decision to do this is solely because we are an educational institution and we would like to pursue what is right,” Superintendent Jeana Conley told board members.
We have a crew in Cherokee County getting more information now. This story will be updated as we learn more.
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