Pinewood Cemetery
Photo added by David M. Habben

Pinewood Cemetery

Also known as Ninth Street Pinewood Cemetery

Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, USA

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Managed by the City of Charlotte

According to the Mecklenburg County Historic Landmarks Commission, 9th Street Pinewood Cemetery included plots available only to African Americans. Originally no roads connected Elmwood and Pinewood Cemeteries. African-Americans used an entrance on 9th Street to enter Pinewood Cemetery, which had no paved streets, no peripheral fencing and no curbs or gutters. In the 1930s, a fence was erected between Pinewood and Elmwood, standing as both a physical barrier between the burial grounds and as a symbol of racial discrimination in the community.
In the late 1960s, empowered by the successes of the Civil Rights movement, African-American Charlotteans began a crusade to have the city voluntarily remove the fence. Leading the fight was Fred Alexander, Charlotte's first African-American city councilman. Alexander fought opposition in the City Council until January 1969 when Mayor Stan R. Brookshire cast a tie-breaking vote for removal of the fence. Roads now connect Elmwood Pinewood Cemetery, which can be accessed from 6th Street or 9th Street. A remnant of the fence is still visible at the cemetery's eastern end.


Managed by the City of Charlotte

According to the Mecklenburg County Historic Landmarks Commission, 9th Street Pinewood Cemetery included plots available only to African Americans. Originally no roads connected Elmwood and Pinewood Cemeteries. African-Americans used an entrance on 9th Street to enter Pinewood Cemetery, which had no paved streets, no peripheral fencing and no curbs or gutters. In the 1930s, a fence was erected between Pinewood and Elmwood, standing as both a physical barrier between the burial grounds and as a symbol of racial discrimination in the community.
In the late 1960s, empowered by the successes of the Civil Rights movement, African-American Charlotteans began a crusade to have the city voluntarily remove the fence. Leading the fight was Fred Alexander, Charlotte's first African-American city councilman. Alexander fought opposition in the City Council until January 1969 when Mayor Stan R. Brookshire cast a tie-breaking vote for removal of the fence. Roads now connect Elmwood Pinewood Cemetery, which can be accessed from 6th Street or 9th Street. A remnant of the fence is still visible at the cemetery's eastern end.


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  • Added: 1 Jan 2000
  • Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 48436