Raleigh City Cemeteries Preservation, Inc.
Website and archives: rccpreservation.org
A brief history:
Raleigh City Cemeteries Preservation, Inc., (RCCP) was founded in 2006 to promote the history of Raleigh’s public historic cemeteries, raise funds for maps and research, as well as provide conservation and preservation repairs for monuments, fences, and stone walls. RCCP was established as a 501C3 organization and incorporated as a nonprofit in the State of North Carolina.
RCCP disbanded in 2023 after establishing an excellent working relationship with city of Raleigh staff- the basis of a successful private-public partnership. Through perseverance and dedication, RCCP also developed solid relationships within the community, schools, colleges, and civic and preservation groups seeking to fund public projects, as well as descendants of ancestors interred in the cemeteries.
In 2009, with the urging and support of RCCP, the Raleigh City Council established the city of Raleigh Historic Cemeteries Advisory Board (HCAB) to provide guidance for board members and accomplish work goals for the historic cemeteries. Several RCCP board members served terms on the HCAB, which still exists today.
RCCP Mission Statement: to help the City of Raleigh promote and provide preservation and restoration of city-owned cemeteries and assist with programs to enhance education and heritage tourism.
As a non-profit 501(c)( 3) friends group to the City of Raleigh, RCCP achievements included:
- Partnership with the City of Raleigh — Our working relationship provided a work plan and goals
- Restoration — We restored and provided conservation work on historic monuments, fences, and stone walls with assistance from descendants, funders and organizations
- Marketing Materials — Our walking tour maps promote heritage tourism in Raleigh. Our website includes GIS maps, inventories, and National Register and Local Register documents. We helped create online audio tours of O’Rorke Cemetery, Mt. Hope Cemetery and City Cemetery. Use your mobile phone to tour cemeteries at your pace.
- Membership — Members supported our operations and many projects. All funds went to restoration for the cemeteries or marketing.
- Mount Hope Cemetery —We created a traveling exhibit, in conjunction with the City of Raleigh Museum in July 2022, to highlight the history of African American citizens interred in Mount Hope.
- City Cemetery — National Register of Historic Places. The placement was achieved for City Cemetery, completed by M. Ruth Little, PhD, of Longleaf Historic Resources in 2008.
- Mount Hope Cemetery —National Register of Historic Places. The nomination was achieved for this 34-acre African American cemetery, completed by Ruth Little in 2009.
- O’Rorke-Catholic Cemetery — Local Raleigh Historic Landmark, written by Ruth Little. 2010
- Tornado Damage 2011– We assisted city staff and FEMA to inventory damaged monuments in City and Mount Hope cemeteries.
- Databases — We researched and published databases for City Cemetery, Mount Hope Cemetery and O’Rorke-Catholic Cemetery on this website.
- GIS Maps — Please see our GIS maps and corresponding database of each grave site with existing markers for both City Cemetery and Mount Hope Cemetery.
RCCP Research Collection
To share years of research and information gathering, RCCP has donated papers and photographs to the Olivia Raney Local History Library. The research of historian Betsy Shaw, the foundation of the RCCP database, maps and tours is included in a separate collection at the library.
RCCP Website
To keep the many pages of maps, images, and research online, Preservation Raleigh is hosting the RCCP website. Please visit and explore the site here: https://rccpreservation.org/
