This year’s Leadership Forsyth class chose a community service project that benefits the community by restoring history. We are working closely with the Forsyth County Historic Society to refresh an African American cemetery in downtown Cumming, GA. The class reached out to Argos to see if we would be able to help by donating concrete to help add to the space. Our Atlanta team was more than happy to help and donated 15 CY of concrete from the Cumming Ready – Mix plant.

History of the Cemetery: 

The Tolbert Street Cemetery is an African-American cemetery that was established as a graveyard when a church was built here, circa 1880. At that time, the church may have become a chapter of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). The associated property was also home to a church campground. Several stones mark the graves of slaves or ex-slaves, which may indicate burials on this site before the civil war. Membership in the church was robust, but dwindles after the exodus of African American residents which began in late 1912. Even so, services continued to be held there as late as 1915. The wooden church stood nearby until it burned down in the early 1950s. Our goal with this project is to ensure that it may be known today, and to all future generations, as reclaimed, preserved and never forgotten. 

Project details:

The Leadership Forsyth Team has worked on brush and tree removal, clearing a path and creating a lovely and wide gravel pathway throughout the cemetery. They are adding signage to the entryway to match other historical markers throughout the community, and are working with the historic society to research and identify those buried in an effort to properly mark and label the grave sites.