Black cemetery in Lakeshore 'built over and neglected'

Black settlers who came to Canada through the Underground Railroad are buried in a cemetery in Lakeshore. But their gravestones are not visible, which has prompted The Lakeshore Black Heritage Committee to speak out.

Elmstead, a small community at the CP Rail Tracks and Pike Creek, was established as a black community in Lakeshore in the 1800s.

Members of the Lakeshore Black Heritage Committee said sometime in the 1950's and 60's two houses were constructed on the site of a cemetery where black settlers are buried.

"It's been built over and neglected, ignored. I just want some acknowledgement that this is an old cemetery site," said Glen Cook, who is with the heritage committee.

The heritage committee doesn't want to see the houses torn down or the land reclaimed, they just want to see some sort of plaque or acknowledgement of the cemetery, and assurances no further development will take place there.

"It's not just a spot where there's a marker. It's a person that is buried there," said African Canadian Heritage consultant Elise Harding Davis.