Forrest City Cemetery, also known as City Colored Cemetery and Purifoy Cemetery,
is a historic Black burial ground in
Forrest City, Arkansas
Forrest City is a city in and the county seat of St. Francis County, Arkansas, United States. It was named for General Nathan Bedford Forrest, a notable Confederate war hero who later became the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Shortly ...
, United States.
It is thought that this burial ground was founded around , by members of the Spring Creek Baptist Church.
The last burials here were in the 1960s, and over time it became overgrown and abandoned.
It was rediscovered in 2012, and contains the burial sites for several prominent early African American leaders and politicians.
Notable burials include
Josiah Homer Blount (1860–1938), the first Black person to run for governor of the state of Arkansas in 1920. R. A. Williams, founder of the Supreme Royal Circle of Friends, and Wallace Leon Purifoy, principal at "Colored High School" in Forrest City and founder of the Black fraternity the Imperial Council of Jugamos are also buried at this cemetery.
It is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
since 2021.
See also
*
List of cemeteries in Arkansas
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in St. Francis County, Arkansas
References
External links
Forrest City Cemeteryat
Find a Grave
{{Authority control
African-American cemeteries in Arkansas
Buildings and structures in St. Francis County, Arkansas
Cemeteries established in the 1880s
Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas
National Register of Historic Places in St. Francis County, Arkansas