Committee will help clean up cemetery site
By JOE L. HUGHES II Ledger Staff Writer joe@gaffneyledger.com

The Mountain View Cemetery outside of Blacksburg could soon be getting a new look.

Government officials from Gaffney, Blacksburg and Cherokee County have created a committee as a means to clean up the site.

"A committee has been formed to help clean up the Mountain View Cemetery," Blacksburg town council member Janie Wilson said. "It is in real bad shape."

County councilman Rufus Foster and Blacksburg town councilman Mike Patterson joined Wilson and other concerned members of the community a few weeks ago at the site, pledging to make the area better.

Most of those present were amazed by what they saw. "We discovered a lot of things while out there, from unmarked graves to sinking ones," Dennis Corry, a member of the cleanup committee said. "It is really amazing the work that needs to be done."

The cemetery has been used by black Cherokee County residents since the late 1800s. For years, the property had been under the care of Rev. Willie Woods, who died in October.

Since then, the cemetery has not been tended to with grass growing several inches in height and headstones strewn about the property.

Corry said he places some of the blame on families who bury loved ones at the cemetery and do not tend their graves.

"We sometimes bury relatives and don't go back and tend their burial plots...I know, because I have been guilty of it in the past," Corry said. "This is something we should have done a long time ago."

A number of unmarked headstones were found at the cemetery, prompting members of the committee to contact as many families as possible that have used the property in the past.

"We definitely hope to get in touch with some of the families that bury here," Corry said. "This is more than a cleanup effort as we are also trying to link families."

The committee has sent letters to churches in the Blacksburg area regarding plans to clean up Mountain View, hoping to gain volunteers in addition to setting a date to spruce up the cemetery.

"We have to get with volunteers and the committee to set up a time to do this," Corry said. "We have a lot to do, but once we get the initial cleanup done, it will not be nearly as hard to keep up."