Oxmoor Cemetery
Oxmoor Cemetery is a recently "rediscovered" abandoned cemetery established in 1825 in the Oxmoor community. It occupies about 5 1/2 acres of land northwest of the intersection of West Oxmoor Road and Wenonah-Oxmoor Road, south of Lakeshore Parkway in Birmingham's Oxmoor neighborhood.
The cemetery, which was in use until 1912, contains more than 300 gravesites, including slaves, workers and management of the nearby Oxmoor Furnaces. Many of the graves are unmarked and only noticeable from the sunken area atop the grave. Some graves are marked with a simple piece of sandstone. Others are outlined with old red bricks. Some are covered with a pile of sandstone rocks. Of the true headstones that remain, many have been damaged or stolen, with only the foundations remaining.
The cemetery is now registered on the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register (1 of only 36 in Jefferson County) as well as the Alabama Cemetery Preservation Alliance Register.
In 2009 Red Mountain Park acquired the Oxmoor Cemetery in a deal with U.S. Steel. They have used volunteers to clean-up and remove brush from the cemetery.
References
- Crider, Beverly (June 5, 2012) "Old Oxmoor Cemetery is vanishing before our eyes." The Birmingham News
External links
- Old Oxmoor Cemetery web page
- Old Oxmoor Cemetery on files.usgwarchives.net
- Oxmoor Cemetery at Findagrave.com