Ground Penetrating Radar at the Pinehurst and San Sebastian Cemeteries Thanks to Grant from the Florida Department of State Historical Resorces

 

This week is a big week for the Pinehurst and San Sebastian Cemeteries, two of the oldest African American cemeteries in Florida. 

The cemeteries and the surrounding areas are undergoing a Ground Penetrating Radar and LiDar Study to identify the possibility of unmarked graves and boundaries of the Cemeteries. 

This is thanks to a grant from the Florida Department of State Historical Resorces. 

In the past month or so, members of the West Augustine Improvement Association and volunteers have worked hard on preparing the cemeteries for this study, clearing more ground than ever before and even clearing an overgrown "road" adjacent to the cemeteries. 

Throughout the historic cemeteries, graves are missing markers, sunken areas indicate possible graves, and longtime St. Augustine residents tell us about ancestors they know are buried here, but whose graves they cannot find. 

For a small non-profit organization such as WAIA, this is a huge undertaking, and we want to give a huge thank you to Lisa Lewis, our cemetery advocate and now grant writer, who's spearheaded the efforts to get the grant. 

Receiving this grant seemed like an impossibility, but Lisa made it happen. 

We also want to thank Sarah Newell for the support and those of you in the community who wrote letters of support on behalf of WAIA, without your support we could not have gotten this far. 

A team from Archeological Consultants, Inc is doing the Ground Penetrating Radar and LiDar Study. 

Over the past few years, WAIA has been on a mission to identify and replace broken or lost graves markers at the cemeteries through the Save the Lost Graves fundraising campaign. 

The first replacement headstones have been installed, and more are in the planning stages.