BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA — A four-phase housing development by Quality Homes is being constructed around Hodge Cemetery, which contains graves from 1851 to 1989 and has a deed that dates back to the 1900s. President of the Lee County Cemetery Preservation Commission Tiffany Hilyer has raised concerns to the Opelika City Council about the close proximity of two of the housing lots to the historic cemetery.
“The original deed itself goes back to when Lee County became a county,” Hilyer said. “The deed around 1900 was the last time any description of the size of the cemetery is mentioned. The cemetery began as a family cemetery of the Hodge family (the plantation owners) and a slave cemetery but, it was the descendants of the slaves that were continued to be buried there until 1989.
“Back then, they had no way of knowing that they were going to continue to bury people here up till the 1980s,” she said. “So on the plat map — it’s only half, not even half of this. When they bought the surrounding area to be a subdivision, nobody knew how big [the cemetery] really was.”
To protect Hodge Cemetery as a Historically Designated Site, Hilyer said she contacted the Alabama Historical Commission, and they recommended a 100-foot buffer zone between the edge of the cemetery and development. She said the developers responded, saying the designation has no legal requirement to grant 100 feet, but Hilyer said she would be happy with even 10 feet, and she just wants to ensure residential yards are not encroaching on graves.
“A lot of graves are not marked because they are slave graves,” she said. “Some aren’t marked because the South was broke after the Civil War and not everyone could afford a headstone, especially for infants and children. The mortality rate was high during this period.”
Hilyer said the goal is not to stop progress, but rather to preserve history.
“[At] the Cemetery Preservation Commission, it is not our goal to stop development — we’re not against progress, or nothing like that. We’re not trying to cause any issues, but people don’t respect cemeteries like they should — it’s history. There’s so much history you can find out here; the problem is that with so many unmarked burials, we don’t really know where [the graves] stopped.”
Hilyer said enslaved people and their direct descendants were buried in Hodge Cemetery, and many of their distant relatives still attend Union Hill CME and St. Mark churches today. Hilyer said she consults family members when discussing options with developers and is working with the Opelika City Council to negoiate a 10-foot buffer zone between the Hodge Cemetery graves and Quality Homes residential yards.
“[Quality Homes] talked about donating money to us to make it a garden or a walking path or something,” she said. “But some of the families and descendants don’t really want that, because they said it invites dogs, kids and they really just don’t want that. We all agreed that there should be some type of fence or perimeter — either plant some trees, or [something] that’ll separate it. Right now, the city council is doing a great job, and the mayor is trying to help us. We asked that [the cemetery border] just be extended, to the ditch line. All we’re asking for is like 10 feet, and they’re working really hard on trying to help us accomplish that. The city council meetings we’ve been to have been really helpful. [Mayor-elect Eddie Smith] is talking to the developers and stuff himself, there’s just no reason why you can’t give just 10 feet.”
Smith said he is pursuing an agreement with the developer.
“Tiffany Hilyer and Mac Morris have been very diligent in working on preserving the Hodge Cemetery,” he said. “They have requested that the developers donate or greatly reduce the price of two lots. These lots appear to have graves on them although they are outside of the parameters of the cemetery. I have agreed to speak with the developer on their behalf. At this point we do not have an agreement but we will continue to pursue.”
With the help of local inmates, Hilyer said Hodge Cemetery was cleaned, allowing locals to visit deceased loved ones.
“We had to get inmates to help us out here because it was [so grown up] you couldn’t see [anything],” she said. “We cleaned it up — we went from the end of May until the end of July, cleaning this out. There were thorns everywhere… They were some of the most respectful guys, and they worked so hard.”
Hilyer said her efforts to preserve and protect Hodge Cemetery reflect her belief that someone should take care of cemeteries. As she works to continue to collaborate with the Opelika City Council and the developers of Quality Homes, Hilyer said she hopes to create more understanding and awareness of the importance of preserving these historic sites.
“I will say that the city council and the mayor are working right now to try to come up with a solution for this, and even possibly some way to prevent this in the future, because there’s other cemeteries in the city that are on lots that are about to be sold, some of them are selling now and developers are buying the land,” she said. “So what happens to these cemeteries? People don’t really respect them, because they say, ‘Well, nobody even goes out there,’ or, ‘It was all grown up till y’all cleaned it out. Nobody ever takes care of it.’ That’s not even the point. The point is, maybe the whole family has died out, and there’s nobody to take care of it. So that’s why we do what we do.”
For those interested in supporting Hilyer’s efforts, she said to message the Lee County Cemetery Preservation Commission through Facebook to volunteer, make a donation or advocate for Hodge Cemetery.
“Everybody who’s died before us — they should be remembered,” she said. “They paved the way, literally, for what we have and who we are today. And I believe everybody should be remembered. And I don’t care if your tombstone is broken or you don’t have one; if there’s proof there’s a grave there, then it should be respected.”
Efforts to reach the developer of the subdivision for comment were unsuccessful.
