Old Plateau Cemetery Africatown Graveyard

Plateau Cemetery, located at 1960 Bay Bridge Road Cutoff in Mobile, Alabama, comprises two connected sections: the Old Plateau Cemetery (Africatown Graveyard) and the New Plateau Cemetery.  The Old section is situated just north of downtown Mobile, within the Africatown Historic District. 

• Origins: The Old Plateau Cemetery was formally established in 1876, about sixteen years after survivors of the Clotilda—the last known illegal slave ship to bring Africans to the U.S.—founded Africatown.
•  Africatown Community: Africatown was formed by more than 30 West Africans who were trafficked aboard the Clotilda in 1860. After emancipation, they pooled resources, bought land, and established their own community, church, and burial ground in what became known as Plateau.

• Old Plateau Cemetery: This is the original Africatown Graveyard, resting place of Clotilda survivors, African Americans from the early community, and even a Buffalo Soldier. It is located on gently sloping high ground, bordered by drainage features on its eastern and southern sides.
   
• Archaeological surveys led by the College of William and Mary unearthed over 2,000 marked graves and many unmarked ones, including evidence of even earlier burials.
   
• In 2010, a commemorative historical marker was erected by The African-American Heritage Trail of Mobile to honor this sacred site.
   
• New Plateau Cemetery: Established in the late 1940s on higher ground south of the Old section, this area was created to accommodate more burials and is still in active use. The earliest recorded burial there dates back to around 1950.
   

• Ownership and management of the Old section have been transferred to the Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation, while several churches oversee the New section, including Union Missionary Baptist Church, Yorktown Baptist Church, First Hopewell Baptist Church, and Greater Pine Grove AME Church.
   
• Preservation efforts are ongoing, partly spurred by the rediscovery of the Clotilda shipwreck in Mobile Bay in 2018–2019 and the impact of the documentary Descendant (2022), which highlights the community’s history and need for preservation.
   

Plateau Cemetery—comprising both the historic Old Plateau Cemetery (Africatown Graveyard) and the newer adjacent burial area—rests in the heart of Africatown, just north of Mobile, Alabama. The Old Plateau Cemetery holds the graves of survivors of the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to illegally transport Africans to the United States in 1860. After emancipation, these survivors established Africatown, built a church, and, by 1876, formally founded their venerable cemetery. Archaeological efforts have revealed thousands of marked and unmarked graves, connecting physical memory to a community’s enduring history. In contrast, the New Plateau section, opened in the mid-20th century, provided much-needed burial space and remains active today. Both sections embody the resilient spirit of Africatown and stand as poignant monuments to survival, remembrance, and cultural heritage. While efforts by the Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation and local churches aim to safeguard the site, the cemetery continues to face environmental and preservation challenges.