Join us at Vine Street Cemetery in Hopkinsville, KY on Wednesday July 12th, 2023!
All 48StateTour! events are free & open to the public
This event is cohosted by Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County
Vine Street Cemetery
N Vine Street x Dupuy Street, Hopkinsville, KY 42240
7/12/2023 9am-3pm
Find A Grave
Museums of Historic Hopkinsville Christian County
Museums of Historic Hopkinsville Facebook
Recent Monument Transformation!
Facebook Event
Museums of Historic Hopkinsville has already started cleaning tombstones in this cemetery. They have hosted two small workshops and The Museum hosts a Tombstone Tuesday event once-a-month in the summer!
Parking: Folks can park along Vine Street, in a small gravel area across from Dupuy Street, or in a pull off by the cemetery. View an aerial of the cemetery with suggested parking highlighted below!
Location Details:
(keep scrolling for Google maps)
*info and images below are provided by our local event co-host Alissa Keller with Museums of Historic Hopkinsville Christian County!*
This land was purchased in 1866 by African American men on behalf of Union Benevolent Society #5. Formerly used as the county's fairgrounds, this approximately 5-acre site became the first burial ground owned and created by local Black people for their own loved ones. Many people buried here were formerly enslaved - including at least a dozen men who served in the US Colored Troops during the Civil War. Over time, the cemetery has been known as UBC (Union Benevolent Cemetery), East End Cemetery, the colored cemetery, and Vine Street Cemetery. In 1913, the City of Hopkinsville established a city cemetery for Black residents, and this cemetery began to be used less and less. Eventually, the Union Benevolent Society ceased to exist, and the site was left abandoned and became completely overgrown. Extensive efforts by county officials initiated the clean-up of the site in 2015. The City of Hopkinsville claimed ownership and rededicated the cemetery on July 10, 2018. Since then, the cemetery has been better maintained but still needs additional restoration efforts.
Check out a articles about the cemetery!
Kentucky New Era - Vine Street cemetery volunteers sought
Hoptown Chronicle - Tombstone Tuesday volunteers help uncover names of long departed
