I have been following the Hinton Midway Enslaved Persons Cemetery for several years now. I have been aware of it since first starting work on the Wake Cemetery Survey c. 1978 Image Project that is now hosted at the Wake County Genealogical Society website. I have been working on that since 2019 so I have seen it evolve as interest and civic action converged.
The Midway Enslaved Cemetery sat neglected for many years on fallow land in Knightdale while right across the street (New Bern Avenue/ Business US 64) the "more recognized/more historical" portions of the Midway Plantation and the white family cemetery were moved in preparation to build the Shops at Midway shopping center (now called the Knightdale Market Place on Google Maps). Quotes for emphasis because that is how the narrative reads despite what we know to be true. There would be no massive prosperous Midway Plantation without the the free labor of the enslaved persons who toiled and died there.
Meanwhile, the enslaved cemetery languished in a shady wooded undeveloped parcel across the busy highway until the early 2000's when Widewaters Village was planned and built. In the building process at least some of the cemetery was saved, and fenced. That portion is situated behind the Widewaters pool and clubhouse. While it was protected in a fenceds and shady area, it went uncared for for several years as few residents of Widewaters Village knew of its existance.
Everything changed in the 2020's when a group of community volunteers spearheaded a project to not only clean up the Hinton Midway Enslaved Cemetery but get it designated with a historical marker as well.
In the course of following their efforts and studying for my own efforts in the WCGS Cemetery Image Project, I have amassed several links that tell the story of the evolutions and preservation of the Hinton Midway Enslaved Cemetery. I want to post them here where they can be easily found for the benefit of others.
First, the relative location of the Cemetery appears on this Google Map.
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The large yellow ring encircles the Widewaters Pool and the shaded Cemetery. Across the US64 Business, is the shopping center that takes up a portion of the former Midway Plantation land. The Midway story has been told many times over and can be found by searching Google. |
The Hinton Midway Enslaved Persons Cemetery appears on the Wake County Cemetery Survey Image Project within the St. Matthews township records. Here is a link to the file that ws collected in 1995.
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| This is a portion of page 1. Click to enlarge Note that it says that there are 150-200 graves. A few have fieldstones with crude markings. Most have none. |
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| This snippet from the St Matthews twp new index file has additional information found during the WCS Image project. Note that there is a street name and GPS Coordinates to the site. Click to enlarge. |
In addition to the research done for the WCS Image project, I have see conversations surface many time on various Wake County centric Facebook Groups. In fact there was a post I hunted for several weeks unsuccessfully when I wanted to share with someone. You will see that post featured prominently in the first video shared here. I am so glad to have even a video reference to it. I had thought I had dreamed it!
Videos about The Hinton Midway Enslaved Persons Cemetery from inspiration to project to Historic Marker:
The Enslaved Persons Cemetery - History with Oakley Dean Baldwin - video notes below.
Sep 13, 2021
Knightdale community raising funds for historical marker at long-neglected slave burial grounds - notes from WTVD news story below:
Headstone placed at burial grounds for slaves at former NC plantation - Notes from second WTVD story below:
Note that they now estimate 130 graves rather that the 150-200 noted in the 1995 Wake Cemetery Survey document. Was this a miscount or have some disappeared in the meantime?
There is one more link that I have to share today on the cemetery. When I was searching for the previous set of links I noticed an article that was published in Time Magazine at the beginning of December this year (2024). I am glad to see the cemetery getting such far reaching coverage.
Time Magazine piece - How the Burial Ground of My Enslaved African Ancestors Became a Historical Landmark by Sade Green, Dec. 4, 2024.
The full collection of the Wake County Cemetery Survey c. 1978 Image project can be viewed at our website.
Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website -
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