By Newport This Week Staff | on September 22, 2022
One of the Newport Historic Cemetery Advisory Commission’s mission is to restore historic gravestones. (Photo by Lew Keen)
A coalition of groups is shepherding a project to improve the grounds and address the deteriorated conditions of the gravestones at God’s Little Acre, one of America’s most significant historic cemeteries.
The Newport Historic Cemetery Advisory Commission, the God’s Little Acre Preservation Project Foundation and the city of Newport have joined together in the effort at the cemetery, which is reserved for the city’s African Americans and dates to 1705.
Part One is underway, with a completed master landscape plan to refresh the grounds, introduced at the August meeting of the Newport Historic Cemetery Advisory Commission.
The second part of the plan is to restore gravestones that have been damaged or have deteriorated over time. An assessment survey of the 641 markers has been completed, with a working estimate that it will cost an average of $1,500 per stone for a projected cost of about $960,000.
The God’s Little Acre Preservation Project Foundation hired Martha Lyon, a landscape architect from Northampton, Massachusetts, to prepare a plan to improve the grounds. Lyon has worked on designs to restore many historic New England cemeteries, including Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts, and Charter Street Cemetery in Salem, Massachusetts.
“The plan’s goal was to upgrade the property’s physical condition so that God’s Little Acre appears well-maintained and is recognized, acknowledged and respected for its historical significance,” she said.
As part of the proposal, older trees will be removed and replaced; more species of trees will be planted to provide shade throughout the cemetery; and three elms will be planted to replace those lost at the north end along Farewell Street.
There are currently 29 trees at the cemetery, including 14 Kansan cherry trees and nine elms. The existing trees will be pruned to remove dead limbs and to lift their crowns, improving views throughout. Vines of English and poison ivy will also be removed from their trunks.
Lyon has a list of 10 other trees appropriate for planting in the cemetery. Among them are Eastern Red Cedar, Tulip Tree, Red Maple and Northern Black Tupelo.
Aging Kansan Cherry Trees along the cemetery’s east border will be replaced as they die out with another Japanese native, Kwanza Cherry Trees, which have a lengthy lifespan, according to Scott Wheeler, superintendent of Parks, Grounds & Forestry.
The three American Elm trees along Farewell Street that have died will be replaced by Princeton Elms, cultivated trees that are resistant to Dutch Elm disease and insects. Wheeler said the new trees should thrive because “cemeteries are among the best places to plant trees because they have undisturbed native soil.”
But Lyon said the soil throughout the cemetery should be tested to ensure the new trees are right for their planting sites. She estimates the cost of planting new trees at $5,000 to $6,000.
Her plan also recommends replacing the grass with ground cover, thus cutting the cost of mowing, while reducing possible damage to gravestones from mowers and weed whackers. Ground cover would also help pollinators, such as bees.
Lyon’s plan includes several ways to mark the 430-foot boundary line between God’s Little Acre and the Island Cemetery to the east. Currently, part of the property line has a chain-link fence covered with English Ivy. She recommends installing a traditional New England fieldstone fence, granite posts or a steel picket fence. Cost estimates range from $140,000 for the former, and $36,000 for a granite post barrier.
One question that must be resolved is how to address unmarked graves for African-American children who did not survive infancy and are buried in what is now Island Cemetery.
Another issue is the use of automobiles, which are a danger to historic cemeteries due to tight spacing. Like many historic cemeteries, there were no cars when God’s Little Acre was originally developed. Lyon said roadways have been designed in many older New England cemeteries, including Island Cemetery and the Common Burying Ground, and they often run over burial sites, so gravestones had to be moved out of the way.
Her plan for God’s Little Acre is to upgrade roadways through the Common Burying Ground, which lies to the south. That would allow improved access to God’s Little Acre and give police access to the wooded north end, where the homeless sometimes camp out.
She proposes two roadways running through the Common Burying Ground, roughly parallel to Farewell Street, with cars entering the north entry at Dyre Avenue and exiting at the south entry at Clarke Avenue. An alternative plan is to make one of the drives a walkway, shaded by newly planted trees.
Lyon also proposes upgrading the two Farewell Street entryways, which are now quite narrow. She would widen the aprons to make turning into the cemetery easier. The total cost for either plan would be about $185,000.
The roadways would not threaten the gravestones in God’s Little Acre, she said, and Lyons did not commit to installing roadways at the August meeting. But introducing vehicular traffic into the Common Burying Ground puts the gravestones there at risk, she said.
“As a landscape architect and a specialist in historic preservation, it is my professional responsibility to recommend ways a client can safeguard an historic property, especially when original works of art, in this case gravestone carvings, are involved,” she wrote in an email to Newport This Week.
She said it is important to take “the long view” and not introduce features that would encourage greater vehicular traffic.
“It is important to consider the many facets of people engaged in an historic cemetery, but the commission’s priority should be to protect the integrity of the site and the stones,” wrote Lew Keen, chair of the Historic Cemetery Advisory Commission, in an email.
The final decision is in the hands of the city. Any restoration design will have to go through its normal approval process.
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