Rye's African American Cemetery

Rye's African-American Cemetery was established in 1860 when the Halstead family donated it under the condition that it, “Shall forever hereafter be kept, held and used for the purpose of a cemetery or Burial place for the colored inhabitants of the said Town Of Rye, and its vicinity, free and clear of any charge therefor…” It was officially established in 1860 but had most likely been used as a burial ground for African Americans long before that. An estimated 300 people are buried at the cemetery, although many of them do not have formal markers. In 1964 when the segregation of cemeteries ended the cemetery was closed for new burials. There are 22 veterans of the Civil War, Spanish American War, WWI and WW II. One of the men buried here, Samuel Bell, was a soldier in one of the first black military units of the Union Army during the Civil War —chronicled in the 1989 Denzel Washington movie, "Glory." Robert Purdy, who escaped slavery and fled to Mamaroneck to start the Barry Ave AME Zion Church is buried here as well. Other notable figures are a navy sailor who was in Washington on the day of Lincoln's assassination and a man who ran an Inn & restaurant on Milton Road. Following its closing in 1964 the cemetery fell into a state of disrepair, community projects were enacted to give new life to the cemetery. In 2003 the cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Every year on Veterans Day and Memorial Day events honor those who are buried here.