The Junaluska Story

The Old Boone Cemetery

The Old Boone Cemetery is one of the longest-standing markers of Boone’s history, with the first burials beginning in the mid-19th century. The cemetery was initially owned by the Councill family, and there were originally two sections of the cemetery. One section was for white residents of Boone and the other section for enslaved people and other Black residents.¹

While slavery was not as common in Appalachia as in other regions, there were 129 enslaved people living in the area that became Watauga County in 1849, and there were only 29 free Black people at this time. After the end of slavery following the Civil War, there were 210 Black people in Watauga County, half of whom resided in Boone.² The Old Boone Cemetery grew with the town, though many of the graves were unmarked, especially those in the Black section. In addition, a fence separated the two sections of the cemetery, erected in 1898 and again in 1958.³ In the late 1950s, the cemetery in Boone was full, so members of the Junaluska community began conducting burials at the Clarissa Hill Cemetery.⁴

In 2014, the Junaluska Heritage Association sent a letter to Boone’s Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) calling awareness to the disregard and vandalism of the Black section of the cemetery. They requested that the town purchase and renovate the privately owned cemetery from the Councills. By 2015, the town had purchased both sections of the cemetery and begun renovations, including the removal of the chain link fence that once separated the Black section of the cemetery from the rest.⁵ Noting that the existence of the fence separating the races was an important part of the history of the cemetery, members of the Junaluska Heritage Association along with students from Appalachian State University, laid flagstones to outline the former location of the fence.⁶

Another major issue concerning the Old Boone Cemetery was that it was unclear just how many people were buried in unmarked graves. Cemetery records compiled in 1937 by the Historical Records Survey of North Carolina listed only nine of the individuals buried in the Black section of the cemetery. Most of these records were incomplete and only included the deceased’s name. Due to the work of archaeologist Dr. Alice Wright and her students, along with the Junaluska Heritage Association, the locations of these graves have been identified and marked with simple flagstones.⁷ Ground penetrating radar determined that there are over 165 graves in the Black section of the cemetery.⁸

The Junaluska Heritage Association along with the Town of Boone have made efforts to increase awareness of the cemetery’s historic importance. In 2017, the JHA placed a monument to the individuals buried in the Black section of the cemetery in unmarked graves. The monument lists the known names of these individuals, along with a statement about the historic nature of the cemetery.⁹ In December of 2023, the Boone Town Council approved language for interpretive panels to be installed at the historic cemetery. The project, which started in early 2021, was delayed for months as the wording of the panels was disputed by descendants of the Councill family.¹⁰ On May 2, 2025, the interpretive panels were finally installed and unveiled to the public in a small ceremony, where organizers noted the complex nature of the site’s history.¹¹

Monument honoring those buried in unmarked graves in the Old Boone Cemetery, Photo Credit: Eli Bishop

Historical panels highlighting the history of the Old Boone Cemetery, Photo Credit: Eli Bishop

Bibliography

Barber, Luke. “Historic Cemetery Panel Project Ignites Debate, Contention Among Descendants.” Watauga Democrat. November 10, 2023. https://www.wataugademocrat.com/news/local/historic-cemetery-panel-project-ignites-debate-contention-among-descendants/article_1d458d42-7d83-11ee-a80e-47d53adcb2c3.html.

Becker, William. “Historic Black Cemetery Given Long-Absent Recognition.” The Appalachian Online. November 1, 2022. https://theappalachianonline.com/historic-black-cemetery-given-long-absent-recognition/.

Deibler, Sam. “Historical Interpretive Panels Approved for Boone Cemetery.” The Appalachian Online. February 29, 2024. https://theappalachianonline.com/historic-interpretive-panels-approved-for-boone-cemetery/.

Deibler, Sam. “Boone Cemetery Panels Project Sparks Controversy Among Descendants.” The Appalachian Online. March 18, 2024. https://theappalachianonline.com/boone-cemetery-panels-project-sparks-controversy-among-descendants/.

Fogleman, Nick. “New Markers Highlight Boone Cemetery’s History.” Watauga Democrat. May 7, 2025. https://www.wataugademocrat.com/community/new-markers-highlight-boone-cemeterys-history/article_81607091-9b58-4967-96a5-8d7d1281a5cc.htm.

Giunica, Mary. “Reclaiming a Community Treasure.” The Appalachian Online. October 4, 2017. https://today.appstate.edu/2017/10/04/community-treasure.

Keefe, Susan, ed.. Junaluska: Oral Histories of a Black Appalachian Community. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2020

Patterson, Siri. “Preserving Local History Through the Boone Cemetery.” The Appalachian Online. May 2, 2023. https://theappalachianonline.com/preserving-local-history-through-the-boone-cemetery/.