CHARLOTTE, N.C. — WCNC's Defenders team uncovered an abandoned, historic cemetery off of Beatties Ford Road in Charlotte, Cedar Grove Cemetery. Now, the county and city are trying to figure out who is responsible for upkeep. The state said it's the city's responsibility and the city told NBC Charlotte it's the county's job.
Since the story first aired, a group of people decided to do it themselves, several gathering Saturday morning to clear out the area.
Before, you couldn’t see the graves from the street, centuries of history hidden away. Volunteers cleared out a huge area of overgrown brush and trees.
Mecklenburg County's attorneys are looking into who is responsible for the upkeep and if it’s the county, they're prepared to do whatever it takes to keep it up. But they won’t have nearly as much to do, thanks to this group.
Vince Dunlap saw the story a few weeks ago and felt like he had to get involved.
“It’s such a shame that a cemetery was let go for so long that we have all these trees and you can’t even see the headstones,” Dunlap said.
He says he’s grateful for the people who joined him to help.
"No cemetery should be like this, none," another volunteer said.
A lot of people who live in the area didn’t even realize the cemetery was there. They’re hoping it will stay clean now.
