Unit of WILKES STREET CEMETERY COMPLEX Located at African-American Heritage Park The Silver Leaf (Colored) Black Baptist Cemetery was established in 1885, but was later abandoned. In the early 1960s, the area was buried under landfill. Initial investigation of the 1.1-acre property, now African American Heritage Park, unearthed a headstone belonging to Abraham Hunter, It was not clear that the monument was associated with a burial until additional head and foot stones were found, supporting the presence of a cemetery on site. A second phase of investigation by city archaeologists resulted in three graves, coffin fragments and hardware, and a portion of a man’s vest. Two other individuals were identified: Sarah Hunter and Julia Ann Washington. A third phase of investigation by the same firm that completed the initial phase led to the discovery of 28 burials, identified by grave shafts and coffin fragments and hardware, and shells placed above the graves—common in African American mortuary tradition. In addition, two more of the interred were named: Mary Rome and Matilda Gaines.