Black cemetery in Gadsden named historic site

GADSDEN, Ala. (AP) — A historic black cemetery in Gadsden has been named to the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register. The Gadsden Times reports that the Alabama Historic Commission says the largely abandoned cemetery has been known by several names, including Sixth Street and Sunset, but Southern Hills is the most familiar. The earliest known headstone in the cemetery dates to 1888. The commission says burials at the cemetery stopped in the 1940s when the city took the neighborhood by eminent domain. Area residents moved to another part of town, abandoning the cemetery. Chari Bostick found out about Southern Hills when she was researching her ancestors. She submitted the application and says she's happy to see it added to the register.