Official Site of The State of New Jersey

The Mount Zion Cemetery is owned by the Mount Zion AME Church in the historic settlement known as Small Gloucester.  This area was an early African American settlement, a stop on the Underground Railroad, and originally located within a Quaker community.  The burial ground was probably active from the 1830s to the 1930s and may contain up to 200 unmarked graves.  Thirteen black solders from the Civil War are buried here. 

Located in one of the fastest growing communities in South New Jersey, the once isolated burial ground is threatened by erosion caused by over development and insensitive farming boundaries. The Trust grant will assist the preparation of an archaeological report that will identify the size of the cemetery, note the number and condition of gravesites, and correctly identify the cemetery boundaries in order to protect the site from further encroachment.  The document will make recommendations for stabilizing the site and the remaining headstones.

For more information, visit:  http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/nj4.htm