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Hurricane of 1928 African American Mass Burial Site

West Palm Beach, Italy

Hurricane of 1928 African American Mass Burial Site

The Hurricane of 1928 African-American Mass Burial Site (also known as Pauper's Cemetery) is a pauper's cemetery and mass grave in West Palm Beach, Florida. It is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The cemetery is situated near the junction of 25th Street and Tamarind Avenue be

tween I-95 and U.S. Route 1. The site is the location in which 674 bodies of African Americans or those of an unknown race were buried following the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane, while most of the white victims of the storm received a proper burial at Woodlawn Cemetery due to segregation laws. Established in 1913, the property of the pauper's cemetery currently includes approximately 1.03 acres (0.42 ha) of land. Although the site is located at the southwest corner of 25th Street and Tamarind Avenue, 25th Street was paved above the northern portion of the mass grave in the 1950s, unearthing a number of bodies in the process. After the 1928 hurricane, the bodies buried at that location became mostly forgotten by the public. The city of West Palm Beach sold the land and it changed ownership several times into the 1980s. Beginning in 1991, a movement to convince the city of West Palm Beach to repurchase...

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