Stop the Destruction of Historic Burial Sites in Alabama

[Rick]

Stop the Destruction of Historic Burial Sites in Alabama

Sign the petition here... http://www.petitiononline.com/McDade1/petition.html

To:  Alabama Legislature
 
Alabama does not have strict laws protecting historic burial grounds – Native American, Revolutionary War Veterans, early pioneers – it simply does not matter. Developers who choose to plow under these sites have little or nothing to fear from the law.

Developers do not have to share the cost of moving graves. Developers are not even required to look for living defendants. There are no requirements for archeological inspections.

Preservation groups believe there are as many as 20 graves of Revolutionary War soldiers in just Montgomery County, Alabama. Six Revolutionary War soldiers' burial sites have been confirmed in Montgomery County, according to the Alabama Society for the Sons of the American Revolution. These graves and other historic sites are being threatened by development.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

[Rick]

Historic graves moving
February 22, 2006

http://tinyurl.com/o234v

By Sebastian Kitchen
Montgomery Advertiser

Montgomery County Commissioners gave developers the go-ahead Monday to move historic Pinkston Cemetery along Chantilly Parkway.

The commissioners voted 3-2 to declare the cemetery abandoned, which clears the way for developers to relocate the family graveyard.

"Damn history. Full speed ahead with progress," said Ted Urquhart, president of the Alabama Cemetery Preservation Alliance.

Commissioners Dimitri Polizos and Reed Ingram voted against the move. Ingram has said a grave should be a person's final resting place and should not be moved.

Commissioners Todd Strange and Jiles Williams, who visited the area, said they had reservations about the idea. They said the mass of weed growth and underbrush around the site is evidence the cemetery had been neglected for years.

Family members said they had been locked out of the process.

Ann Pinkston LaBarge's grandfather, Frank Howard Pinkston, is buried in the cemetery. She agrees the cemetery should serve as his final resting place.

"It's just maddening," she said.

LaBarge said she is appalled they are moving him. The remains will be placed next to her grandmother in Montgomery Memorial Cemetery.

"It wasn't surprising, 'cause we've known all along money talks," she said.

LaBarge plans to be present when they move the grave, which is one of about 50 in the cemetery. Only two, including her grandfather's, are marked.

John Howard, attorney for developers Trum LLC, said he does not know how long the movement of the cemetery will take or when it will begin. He said they likely will start clearing brush this week.

"It has been a long process and we're glad its finally been approved," Howard said. "We feel like we had a legal right to move the cemetery and we're glad that the county commission approved it."

Howard said his clients will spend thousands to move the graves. The Office of Archaeological Research at the University of Alabama will disinter and relocate the remains. Howard said they will document the graves and their findings.

Howard said the he did not know what will be built on the site specifically, but said it will be a retail development.

The graves will be better kept in a public cemetery with a marker detailing the history, Howard said.

Urquhart said he was disappointed in the commission's decision, but does believe the developers are moving the graves in a proper manner. He is concerned about the fate of other historic cemeteries in the area, which he said contain some of the county's earliest settlers.