Historical Society President to Speak on Slave Cemetery

Thomas Buckingham, president of the Somerset County Historical Society, is expected to speak before the Bedminster Township Committee Monday with information on the history of what has been found to be a slave cemetery on Hillside Avenue.

, and residents are pushing for some kind of preservation of the site.

The property, according to records, was purchased by the township in 1935. The Bedminster municipal building was located on the property until 2004, and it was demolished in 2011.

Since then, the property has remained vacant.

The township has already discussed putting up a sign on the property to indicate the historical significance.

Residents, however, have expressed concerns over the ownership of the property, as well as previous attempts by former Bedminster administrations to sell it.

Buckingham is expected to address all of this, as well as the actual history of the property.

For many, the most important thing at this point is to somehow designate the property as historical.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Bedminster Municipal Building on Miller Lane.