The church was built in 1891 to serve the spiritual needs of the Black community on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. At the moment, I am unable to find any other information on the history of the church and school.
I was stopped in a funeral processional when I realized the casket was being pulled by a horse drawn carriage. It was beautiful to witness. This is a screenshot from a short video that I took. I don’t normally process in black and white, but I liked the contrast of the horse and carriage with the driver. This was near South-view Cemetery.
Oak Hill Cemetery started in 1833, but it didn’t get the name Oak Hill until the local newspaper ran a contest to name the cemetery in 1887. As an active cemetery with over 15,000 burials, the different markers represent funerary art over the years.
There are many notable people buried, many of whom were early settlers of the area. Several Victorian monuments grace part of the cemetery. I’ve visited the cemetery twice, 2014 and 2016. In that time, a major restoration has been done on several monuments. Photos of the changes are shown below.
The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.
If you’ve visited the King Plow Arts Center, you have visited the site of the company that Clyde King owned. Initially, it was known as the the Atlanta Plow Company, but later the name was changed to the King Plow Company in 1928.
Clyde and his wife, Clara Belle, lived in a brick home at 1010 Ponce de Leon Avenue. Clara loved that house so much that she wanted to be buried in the backyard. Clyde commissioned a monument that replicates the home, so the Kings would be near the home forever. Their final resting place at Oakland Cemetery is adorned with this monument.
Alpha Delta Pi sorority now use the King house for their national headquarters.
