African-American Cemetery (Montgomery, New York)

African-American Cemetery
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Pipes indicate the gravesites in the cemetery
Location	NY 416, Town of Montgomery, NY
Nearest city	Middletown
Coordinates	41°30′16″N 74°15′16″W / 41.50444°N 74.25444°WCoordinates: 41°30′16″N 74°15′16″W / 41.50444°N 74.25444°W
Area	less than one acre
Built	1750
NRHP Reference #	96000862
Added to NRHP	August 16, 1996[1]

The African-American Cemetery, known historically as the Colored Cemetery, in the Town of Montgomery, New York, United States, holds the graves of roughly 100, mostly believed to be African slaves who were brought over by the earliest settlers of the region from the Rhenish Palatinate in the mid-18th century. It is located on NY 416 0.1 mile (160 m) north of the Interstate 84 crossing, near the Wallkill River.

All the originally marked graves that have been identified have had the stones used to mark them supplemented with small pipes. Only two have any kind of discernible inscription, one of which dates its occupant's passing to 1756.

The site had grown neglected until the town and private donors undertook to fix it up in the early 1990s. It was fully restored and rededicated, with a new wooden fence and explanatory plaque, in 1995. It was then added to the National Register of Historic Places.

References

1. National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.