Fields Cemetery
Samuel Fields Cemetery is a historic cemetery located on the banks of Five Mile Creek off Cardiff Street in Brookside. It is named for Samuel Fields (1790-1860), a founder of the Brookside community who was among the first to be buried there, along with native Americans and slaves.
There are approximately 200 grave sites on the grounds, of which only 50 records have been preserved. One of the last burials at the site was that of H. W. Collins, whose son Charles served as caretaker in the 1970s and 80s.
Volunteers worked to restore the deteriorating cemetery in 2008. They held a rededication on May 25.
Brookside Junior High School once shared the hilltop site with the cemetery until it was destroyed by fire in 1975. That site may later be developed into a historical park under the aegis of the Five Mile Creek Greenways Alliance.
References
- Glover, Staci Simon (2008) Book commemorating rededication of Fields Cemetery.
- Fields, Monique (May 24, 2008) "Brookside cemetery restored." The Birmingham News