Title
HLC#22-007 and HLC#22-010: Public hearing to consider a request for a Historic Landmark Overlay District designation for the Mansfield Cemetery, c. 1868, and the Mansfield Community Cemetery, (c. 1874), located at 750 W. Kimball Street; Mansfield Cemetery Association, owner and Mansfield Community Cemetery Association, owner
Description/History
Existing Use: Two historic cemeteries
Existing Zoning: SF-7.5/12 and PR
Surrounding Land Use & Zoning:
North - Single-family residences, McClendon Park East, PR, SF-7.5/12 and PD
South - Vacant and industrial, I-1
East - Mausoleum/cemetery, PD
West - Vacant and McClendon Park East, PR and I-1
Comments and Considerations
The Mansfield Cemetery Association and Mansfield Community Cemetery Association have requested a Historic Landmark Overlay District classification for the historic cemeteries at 750 W. Kimball Street. This designation will honor both cemeteries’ historic significance. The property is zoned PR.
Approval of this designation will create the City’s first Historic District containing more than one historic property. The district will not merge the cemeteries together; they will continue to be separate cemeteries with their individual historic identities and cemetery associations.
By city ordinance, landmark designation requests may only be made by the owner of the property. A landmark designation does not change the underlying zoning on the property.
Mansfield 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 S. Man and sister-in-law of Julian Feild, Mansfield’s co-founders, was buried.
Inventories in 1950 and 1980 record 819 grave markers, but there also are large numbers of unmarked graves. Markers are typically granite, limestone and marble. Several Civil War, World War I and World War II veterans are buried in the Mansfield Cemetery 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.
The Cemetery is an officially recognized historic resource of the City of Mansfield.
Mansfield Community Cemetery
Adjacent to the Cumberland section is the 1.32-acre Mansfield Community Cemetery, formerly known as the “Colored” Cemetery. Fifteen of the 83 marked graves could be descendants of Nathan Moody, a slave of Captain Thomas O. Moody, a Confederate officer, buried in the Cumberland section. Veterans of both World Wars are also buried in the Mansfield Community Cemetery.
Markers in the Mansfield Community Cemetery are often less elaborate and included stones, shells and other folk art arrangements. A fence dividing the white and black cemeteries was removed in 2018.
It is believed that Ralph Man donated the land, since this portion of the city was part of his 246-acre farm, which remained occupied by the Man family until 1942. Maintenance of the cemetery is a community effort led by Bethlehem Baptist Church.
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 Cemetery and Mansfield Community Cemetery are two of the most important historic resources in Mansfield. They serve as a directory of early residents and reflect 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.
Both cemeteries contain the grave sites of many of Mansfield’s early families and community leaders.
3. A place that because of its location has become of historic or cultural value to a neighborhood or community.
The cemeteries are located at the western edge of the Original Town of Mansfield. Unlike smaller family cemeteries, their proximity to the historic downtown and the adjacent farming districts provided burial space for the community and are still in use today.
Recommendation
The Historic Landmark Commission held a public hearing on September 8, 2022, and voted 6 to 0 to recommend approval of the Historic Landmark Overlay District designation.
Staff recommends approval.
Attachments
Maps and supporting information
Photographs of the Mansfield Cemetery
Photographs of the Mansfield Community Cemetery