Title
HLC#22-007: Public hearing to consider a request for a Historic Landmark Overlay District designation for the Mansfield Cemetery, c. 1868, located at 750 W. Kimball Street; Mansfield Cemetery Association, owner
Description/History
The Mansfield Cemetery Association has requested a Historic Landmark Overlay District classification for the historic Mansfield Cemetery on W. Kimball Street. This designation will honor the cemetery’s historic significance. The property is zoned SF-7.5/12 and PR.
In conjunction with the application from the Mansfield Cemetery Association in the previous case HLC#22-007, approval of this designation will create the City’s first Historic Landmark District. The District will not merge the cemeteries together; they remain separate historic cemeteries with their own identities and cemetery associations within the same landmark district.
Historic Background
The Mansfield Cemetery incorporates the Cumberland Presbyterian Cemetery and the Black Cemetery. Ralph Man deeded the land for the 2.75-acre Cumberland section in 1874 to the Mansfield congregation of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, but the land was first used for internment in 1868, when Julia Alice Boisseau Man, wife of Ralph Man and sister-in-law of Julian Feild, Mansfield’s co-founders, was buried.
Inventories in 1950 and 1980 recorded 819 grave markers, but there also are many unmarked graves. Several Civil War, World War I and World War II veterans are buried here and the influenza outbreak at the end of World War I added many Mansfield residents to the cemetery.
Many of Mansfield’s early settlers and community leaders are buried in the Cumberland section, including Ralph Man. Many local families buried in the cemetery are known to have close affiliation including the Bratton, Davis, Pyles and Blessing families.
Furniture merchants Duff and T. E. Blessing succeeded their uncle Andrew Bratton as undertakers and Ernie Blessing managed the Blessing Funeral Home until his retirement in the late 1950s. Markers are typically granite, limestone and marble.
The Cemetery is an officially recognized historic resource of the City of Mansfield.
Designation Criteria
The Historic Landmark Overlay District designation should be considered in light of the following criteria:
1. Exemplification of the cultural, economic, social, ethnic, or historical heritage of the City. The Mansfield Community Cemetery is one of the most important historic resources in Mansfield that serves as a directory of early residents, reflects the ethnic diversity and unique population of the area and contributes to the narrative of Mansfield’s history.
2. Identification with a person or persons who significantly contributed to the culture or development of the City. The Mansfield Community Cemetery contains the grave sites of many of Mansfield’s early families and community leaders, including that of Ralph Man, one of the town founders.
3. A place that because of its location has become of historic or cultural value to a neighborhood or community. The Mansfield Community Cemetery is located at the western edge of the Original Town of Mansfield. Unlike smaller family cemeteries, its proximity to the historic downtown and the adjacent farming districts provided burial space for the entire community and is still in use today.
Recommendation
Staff recommends approval of a landmark designation to create a Historic Landmark Overlay District containing the Mansfield Cemetery and the Mansfield Community Cemetery.
Attachments
Maps and supporting information
Photographs of the Mansfield Community Cemetery
Section 155.069(D) of the Code of Ordinances