Pine Hill Cemetery

Pine Hill Cemetery

Lee County, Auburn, John J. Harper, Alabama Confederacy, Auburn Heritage Association

Pine Hill is the oldest cemetery in Auburn and was established in 1837. Auburn’s founder, Judge John J. Harper, donated six acres to be used a community burial ground for white settlers and their slaves. The oldest marked graves are dated 1938. There are no early cemetery records. The first survey was conducted in in the 1950’s and over 1,100 graves were cataloged. Of those, only one grave belong to a black individual. People who have been interred at Pine Hill include slaves and university presidents.

For decades, Pine Hill was the main burial ground for local whites. Auburn’s confederate marker is at the rear of the cemetery standing over 98 common graves of Texas soldiers who died in a temporary hospital. Before 1995, Pine Hill was neglected and vandalized until the Auburn Heritage Association began to restore the cemetery. In 1978, Pine Hill was placed on the Alabama Register and is currently owned by the City of Auburn.

Makayla Melvin

http://www.auburnheritageassoc.org/historic-markers.html#pinehill

Makayla Melvin; MSM0041@auburn.edu