Community leaders work to restore historical Crisfield cemetery

Hundreds of years of Eastern Shore history are tucked away in Crisfield, but all that's left to show for it is an overgrown cemetery filled with broken tombs and fallen headstones.

"This is the largest African American cemetery in the area.There is well over 300 hundred people buried in here," says Joe Paden, a local researcher and a member of Chesapeake Story Tours.

Paden and his son have been studying and researching who has been buried in the cemetery. We're told this location has been a final resting place for many on the Eastern Shore, from fallen soldiers to professionals that paved the way.

"Here we have Dr. Barkley, when he died he was the only African Americans doctor in Somerset County," says Paden.

These are rich chapters in history that community members want to keep alive by preserving it. Chesapeake Story Tours and Friends of Crisfield have teamed up and are launching a project to restore the cemetery. The project involves cleaning up and creating passages so people can visit.

"If I let it go another year a lot of graves are going to be lost and we'll never know that anybody was even buried there," says Paden.

Another part of this project is placing new tombstones for those that never had one or that have weathered away, in an effort to keep their memory alive.

Community members will be working on the cemetery March 17th-18th. We're told they're in need of volunteers and donations to help rebuild it.

For more information on how to donate click here.