Archaeogeophysical investigation of the historic Locust Grove Cemetery in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania

Keywords: Archaelogical geophysics, Locust Grove Cemetery, Magnetic gradiometry, Ground penetrating radar, Shippensburg-Pennsylvania
Abstract Type: Poster Abstract

Abstract

A geophysical investigation, involving ground penetrating radar (GPR) and magnetic gradiometry, was conducted at Locust Grove Cemetery, a historical slave and African American cemetery located in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. In 2022, the National Park Service named the Locust Grove Cemetery to the National Register of Historic Places as a significant historic site reflecting two centuries of African American history and culture. This land was designated as a burial site in the 1700s because it was rocky and unsuitable for farming, and in an area of town that drew little interest from prospective settlers. Eventually, it was deeded to the community's Black residents in 1842 by Edward Shippen Burd. Currently, the cemetery is divided into two sections: the North Queen Street section (circa 1700s-1922) and the Locust Grove section (1922-present). Our research focused on the older, North Queen Street section, where there is a record of 93 known burials, but only 56 gravestones present. There are other open spaces within the cemetery where it was unclear if they contained gravesites. This geophysical survey successfully detected and mapped several unidentified gravesites in the cemetery.