{"id":313,"date":"2016-04-07T14:17:40","date_gmt":"2016-04-07T14:17:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/carlisleparks\/?p=313"},"modified":"2017-05-10T18:06:29","modified_gmt":"2017-05-10T18:06:29","slug":"from-cemetery-to-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/carlisleparks\/from-cemetery-to-park\/","title":{"rendered":"From Cemetery to Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

Memorial Park Home<\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0History<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0| \u00a0Lincoln Cemetery<\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0From Cemetery to Park<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Railroad Station<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Community Voices<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 | \u00a0\u00a0Cemeteries as Sites of Discrimination<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0|\u00a0Photo Gallery<\/a>\u00a0| \u00a0Historical Resources<\/a><\/p>\n

From Cemetery to Park<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Caly McCarthy<\/em><\/p>\n

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Over the years, the Borough\u2019s neglect of Lincoln Cemetery had yielded a high crime area, and one that was a frequent site of littering. \u00a0In 1967, a Carlisle resident approached the town about transitioning the land use from a cemetery to a park. \u00a0The idea was tabled, but in that same year, the Parks Association petitioned to have the cemetery deemed a public nuisance. \u00a0Given the precedent from a 1955 Pennsylvania court case, boroughs could assume ownership of any cemeteries that were deemed \u201cpublic nuisances.\u201d \u00a0This allowed them to remove the headstones of the deceased, so long as they erected a \u201csuitable memorial\u201d honoring those buried beneath.[1] \u00a0On April 20, 1967, Judge Dale F. Shughart designated Lincoln Cemetery a \u201cpublic nuisance,\u201d and Carlisle Borough became the official owner of the plot of land.[2] \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The park idea did not resurface until a Carlisle Recreation Board meeting in October of 1970. \u00a0By 1971, the Recreation Board had circulated a survey in the community to gauge interest in the project and held a public meeting. \u00a0At a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in September of 1971, someone finally raised the question of how members of Carlisle\u2019s black community felt about turning their cemetery into a playground.[3] \u00a0Reuben Smitley, the Superintendent of Parks and Recreation, offered that the burial grounds would be planned as an area for passive recreation, whereas, the active recreation would take place on other areas of the property. \u00a0In November of 1971, Rev. Robert Bailey, of the AME Church on E. Pomfret, urged using the land for better housing options. \u00a0Park officials denied the possibility of realizing that proposition due to grant funding specifications.[4]<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0On April 12, 1972 Lincoln Cemetery was officially deeded to Carlisle for the specific purpose of creating the James Young Memorial Park. \u00a0Young was a black Carlisle educator, and the principal of Wilson Elementary School.[5] \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Although the headstones from Lincoln Cemetery were supposed to be transferred to other cemeteries in town, records indicate that they were instead placed in the Borough Engineer\u2019s Warehouse.[6] \u00a0The only headstone that remains at Memorial Park is that of Samuel A. Jordan, due to the activism of his relative, Flete Jordan, who lived across the street at 128 W. Penn.[7]<\/span><\/p>\n

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In 2002, the Borough of Carlisle collaborated with Historic Carlisle, Inc. to recognize areas of historical importance through the Carlisle Wayside Marker Project<\/a>.[8] \u00a0Memorial Park\u00a0has several wayside markers in its passive recreation area that commemorate Lincoln Cemetery and those who sought to preserve it. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t