HomeMy Public PortalAboutTOL NR 2019-01-09 Sycolin Cemetery input sought
Town of Leesburg
News Release
For Immediate Release
January 9, 2019
Media Contact:
Betsy Arnett, Public Information Officer
barnett@leesburgva.gov 703-771-2734
Leesburg Town Council Seeks Public Input on Care and
Maintenance of Sycolin Community Cemetery
Council will discuss plans for the cemetery at their February 11 work session.
Leesburg, VA (January 9, 2019) – At their February 11, 2019, work session, the Leesburg Town
Council will discuss the future care and maintenance of the Sycolin Community Cemetery. In
advance of the work session, the Town Council is seeking input and ideas from any interested
parties.
The Sycolin Community Cemetery is an historic African American cemetery located on Town-
owned property adjacent to the Leesburg Executive Airport. The cemetery was associated with
the Lower Sycolin community, an African American community established in the 1870s, and
with the Sycolin Union Church (today, the First Baptist Church Sycoline). The last burials took
place in the late 1940s.
The Town acquired the three parcels containing the cemetery in 1989 and 1990, using grant
funding from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), to expand the runway protection zone
for the Leesburg Executive Airport. The cemetery itself is not located within the runway
protection zone, but any improvements on the site are subject to avigation easements and
require approval of the FAA.
Interested parties are encouraged to submit their interests, input, and ideas for the care and
maintenance of the cemetery to the Leesburg Town Council no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday,
February 11, 2019. Submissions may be made via email to council@leesburgva.gov, or may be
mailed or hand-delivered to the Leesburg Town Hall at 25 W Market St, Leesburg, VA, 20176.
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