Walking Tour of Eden Cemetery

Historic Eden cemetery, American’s first privately held African American burial ground, is located just outside of Philadelphia and is home to the remains of more than 90,000 ancestors.

In July 2008, vandals toppled over 200 headstones in the cemetery, including that of Octavius Valentine Catto, one of the most famous burials at Eden Cemetery.[10]

History of Eden: Jerome Bacon, an instructor at the Institute for Colored Youth (now Cheynew University) led efforts to create a cemetery for African-Americans who had been buried in cemeteries in Philadelphia that were being condemned by the city in the early 20th century. The cemeteries included Lebanon Cemetery (condemned in 1899 – closed in 1903), the Olive Graveyard (closed in 1923), the Stephen Smith Home for the Aged and Infirm Colored Person’s Burial Ground and the First African Baptist Church Burial Grounds.

The bodies buried in these cemeteries were disinterred and re-interred at Eden Cemetery. The oldest reburial in the cemetery is from 1721.

After litigation from Collingdale, Pennsylvania opposing the creation of an African-American cemetery in the township, a charter for the creation of Eden Cemetery was granted on June 20, 1902. Fifty-three acres of land previously part of Bartram Farms were selected for the creation of the cemetery.

In 2010, Eden Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.