Slave cemetery found at Topgolf development site, builder to resume planning

A TopGolf site is being built on land containing graves of former slaves on the east coast. >>Learn more about slaves in Texas in the following gallery. >>Learn more about slaves in Texas in the following gallery. A TopGolf site is being built on land containing graves of former slaves on the east coast. Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff Image 1 of / 134 Caption Close Slave cemetery found at Topgolf development site, builder to resume planning 1 / 134 Back to Gallery

White flags currently mark the graves of nearly 20 slaves at a North Carolina plot of land that's set to become a new Topgolf site.

The slave cemetery was unearthed after residents near a property in Charlotte, N.C., raised concerns to developer Matthew Browder, who bought the parcel in 2012. He recently began planning to break ground for a new location of Dallas-based Topgolf, which is a golf-gaming entertainment venue with food and drinks. He told WSOC he was surprised to learn of the land's history, which came courtesy of a radar and a historian's 28-page findings.

"We are going to make sure this is not disturbed and protected regardless," Browder said, assuring concerned locals that he would be respectful of the graves next to Mallard Creek Presbyterian Church.

That promise didn't satisfy concerned Charlotte residents. Some thought Browder would not forge ahead with the venue in any capacity.

"(They) plan on moving forward, which is still shocking," resident Darrin Rankin told the outlet. "How big is this slave cemetery? How deep into the woods does it go?" (Story continues below.)

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A similar battle took place in Houston early last year, when rumors swirled that there were slaves buried next the Alden Woods subdivision near Cypress. The plot of land, situated in the center of $500,000 homes, was investigated but hasn't yielded confirmed results.

Before then, in 2014, the discovery of slave remains in Lake Jackson also made headlines. A discovery of pre-Civil War remains led historians to search the site of a plantation owned by Abner Jackson in the mid-1800s. Executive director of the Lake Jackson Historical Association Robert Rule explained at the time that it's not uncommon for historians to guess where slaves may have been buried, considering tombstones were a luxury not often afforded to them.

"It's one of those things ... it wasn't all recorded. They're making their best guess. You can track who owned it, but not necessarily who lived there," he told the Houston Chronicle. "Anywhere around here, there could be graves."