TAMPA, Fla. — Archaeologists began a new search on Monday for graves from the Robles/Brickyard Cemetery that might have been lost to time.
"Why no one else has done it before now is beyond me. We are allegedly such a God-fearing community, but we seem to have no sense of morality when it comes to the dead,” Ray Reed said.
Reed is a local historian and whistleblower who alerted the city and county to multiple cemeteries that have been erased. So far, his research has led archaeologists to detect at least 445 graves from two different cemeteries.
RELATED: 145 coffins found at King High School, part of an erased African American cemetery in Tampa
The Robles/Brickyard cemetery is located along Sligh Avenue at 30th Street next to a small family cemetery. That cemetery is also called Robles, named for a prominent family connected to Tampa’s early days of development.
That cemetery is located in an odd spot: in the yard of a neighbor unrelated to the Robles. It’s been there since the 1800s.
Reed said his research shows there are likely more burials in the land east of the small Robles Cemetery.
“The cemetery here originally had 23 known burials. We found 15 more death certificates or funeral home records online, and it's literally page-by-page flipping through indexes. It is extremely laborious work trying to find who's where,” Reed said..
He believes there could be as many as 80 to 100 more burials on the land.
A neighbor that spoke to 10News said she remembers seeing headstones in the 1970s, but over time, they disappeared. Another neighbor said he often sees the Robles family come by to clean up the Robles Cemetery.
“They come out probably every quarter and they have done cleaning projects with the family, some cousins,” Tim LaVere said. “They get bags of trash and they clean up all the debris as well as a lot of the foliage and keep it looking pretty nice for a graveyard on the street.”
LaVere has lived in his home for a year-and-a-half. The Robles Cemetery sits in his front yard. Reed says no one currently owns the Robles or Brickyard cemetery property.
An anthropologist with the University of South Florida said he hopes the continual discovery of cemeteries such as Zion, Ridgewood and possibly the Brickyard Cemetery will inspire more action on a grander scale.
“It is snowballing and we keep contributing these stories about individual cemeteries. We're hoping at some point that's going to prompt a more comprehensive, systematic policy or plan for these because right now, it's just, here's another cemetery. What are we going to do about it?” said Tom Pluckhahn, an anthropologist.
Archaeologists said on Monday it could be a few weeks before they have the results of the ground-penetrating radar.
Emerald Morrow is a reporter with 10News WTSP. Like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter. You can also email her at emorrow@wtsp.com. To read more about the search for lost African American burial grounds in the Tampa Bay area, head to wtsp.com/erased.
What other people are reading right now:
- Super Bowl LV officially headed to Tampa in 2021
- FHP: Clearwater family killed in crash after driver runs a red light, takes off
- Teen activist Greta Thunberg nominated again for Nobel Peace Prize
- 5 things you might not know about the Iowa caucuses
- Only in Florida: Video shows gator eating invasive python
- President Trump corrects tweet congratulating Super Bowl champion Chiefs
- Ballet shoes & barn boots: Twin boys a study in contrast
