Mass Grave Site For Slaves Found In Fayettville

A mass grave site for nearly 90 slaves was discovered in northwest Arkansas on the property behind a Fayetteville church while the ground was being surveyed to put in a cellphone tower.

The cellphone provider was looking deep underground using satellite imaging, and could not believe what they were seeing. That tower will not be built on the property at the Christian Life Cathedral.

The church’s pastor, Steve Dixon, says the remains were buried behind gravestones of white families in Fayetteville. After Dixon did a little more research, he found records of the people who are buried in the cemetery under the marked gravestones, indicating they were slave owners.

The congregation says they will find a way to honor the lives that were lost and keep the land sacred.