Barton Heights Cemetery

Barton Heights Cemetery in Richmond feels park-like at first, but in an unsettling way. Located in the Barton Heights neighborhood, the cemetery has a vast lawn and tree canopies that look like open parkland. Long stretches of grass seem to invite wandering but the feeling shifts once you learn how many graves are unmarked, many of which belong to formerly enslaved people. The openness is a reflection of a dark history, despite looking like a park, it doesn’t function like one. 

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