Photograph of Rye African-American Cemetery — Photograph by Magicpiano, CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

African Cemetery

Built in 1860. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. 13 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1897.

From the record

“The Rye African-American Cemetery, also known as the African Cemetery in Rye, is a historic 1.4 acre cemetery on North Street in Rye, New York. It was established as a burying ground for local African-Americans in 1860 through a donation of land by the Underhill family with the intent that it "shall forever hereafter kept, held and used for the purpose of a cemetery or burial place for the colored inhabitants of the said Town of Rye, and its vicinity free and clear of any charge".”
Wikipedia article Rye African-American Cemetery, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 250 National Register listings published here for Westchester County · listed in 2003 · category: Site · built in 1860.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 site as contributing to the listing.
Address. North St., Rye, 10580
When was it listed? October 2003
Category. site
City. Rye city
When was it built? 1860
National Register reference number. 03000999 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

470 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 470 fires within 5 miles of African Cemetery between 2000 and 2020, burning about 360 acres in total. 24 started naturally. 50 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	256
Smoking	75
Arson/incendiarism	50
Recreation and ceremony	31
Natural	24
Debris and open burning	14
Equipment and vehicle use	10
Misuse of fire by a minor	5
Power generation/transmission/distribution	3
Railroad operations and maintenance	1
Other causes	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
8 September 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
8 September 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
8 September 2007	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
8 September 2005	Arson/incendiarism	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
7 September 2005	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
7 September 2004	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named
6 September 2015	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	N/A
6 September 2005	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Fire Department of New York	not named

Every fire recorded in Westchester County

Mines and quarries near this property

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of African Cemetery: 6 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Granite, Stone, Dimension, Stone. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Christiano Oak Ridge Diorite Gneiss Rock Quarry	Stone	Past Producer	1833
Ritch Diorite Gneiss Rock Quarry	Stone, Dimension	Past Producer	Unknown
Voorhis Diorite Gneiss Rock Quarry	Stone, Dimension	Past Producer
Chritiano Oak Ridge Quarry	Granite	Past Producer
Ritch Quarry	Granite	Past Producer
Voorhis Quarry	Granite	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Westchester County

Storms near this property

13 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rye, the town this property stands in, in 13 storm reports between 2001 and 2023: 5 flash flood, 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 lightning, 1 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
October 2010	Flash Flood	Rye	$50,000	Flooding caused portions of many major roads to be closed. Specifically, the Saw Mill River Parkway was closed in both directions between the Taconic State Pkwy. and Manville Rd. in Pleasantville. Southbound lanes from Interstate 287 and northbound lanes from Interstate 87 to Rt. 119 in Elmsford were also closed, as was Exit 7 at Tuckahoe Rd. in Yonkers. The Bronx River Pkwy. was shut in both directions from the Sprain Brook Pkwy. in Yonkers to the Main St. Bridge in White Plains. Fourteen families living in a two-story apartment building on Harrison Ave. in Harrison were evacuated after a ceiling in the hallway collapsed, causing flooding throughout the building. Property damage amounts are estimated. Total rainfall amounts ranged from 3.58 inches in White Plains to 6.25 inches in Yorktown Heights.
September 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Rye	$6,000	A large tree down on New Street took down some wires.
August 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Rye	$6,000	Multiple trees were reported down throughout Rye, including along Chamberlain Street and Stuyvesen Avenue.
September 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Rye	$4,000	Wires down across Natoma Street and Purchase Street.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Rye	$3,000	Trees reported down onto the roadway near the Rye Metro North station resulting in hundreds with power.
August 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Rye	$2,000	Power lines down on North Street in Harrison.
July 2010	Lightning	Rye	$1,000	A house at 10 Dogwood Lane in Rye was struck by lightning.
June 2023	Hail	Rye	-	NWS Employee reports 1 inch hail.
September 2021	Flash Flood	Rye	-	Several cars drove around barricades in Rye and are now stuck in flood waters.
September 2011	Flash Flood	Rye	-	A vehicle was stranded in high water at the intersection of Peck Ave. and Midland Ave. in Rye.
August 2009	Flash Flood	Rye	-	Vehicles were disabled due to flooding on Abdendroth Ave., Midland Ave., and Fox Island Rd. in Port Chester. Numerous secondary streets were also flooded.
March 2007	Flash Flood	Rye	-	Multiple streets flooded and car rescues; high school football stadium flooded as well.
April 2001	Lightning	Rye	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Westchester County

Maps showing this location

13 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

1897 USGS Oyster Bay quadrangle1:62500
1898 USGS Oyster Bay quadrangle1:62500
1900 USGS Oyster Bay quadrangle1:62500 - 15 printings
1947 USGS Mamaroneck quadrangle1:24000
1949 USGS New York quadrangle1:250000
1954 USGS New York quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1955 USGS Mamaroneck quadrangle1:24000 - 2 printings
1957 USGS New York quadrangle1:250000
1958 USGS New York quadrangle1:250000 - 3 printings
1960 USGS New York quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1967 USGS Mamaroneck quadrangle1:24000 - 2 printings
1969 USGS New York quadrangle1:250000
1984 USGS Long Island West quadrangle1:100000 - 2 printings

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
US Post Office-Harrison	0.8 miles	1989
Widow Haviland's Tavern	1.1 miles	1974
Timothy Knapp House and Milton Cemetery	1.1 miles	1982
Timothy Knapp House and Milton Cemetery	1.2 miles	1982
US Post Office-Rye	1.2 miles	1989
Bird Homestead	1.2 miles	2010

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 03000999 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Westchester County	All 250 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.