WESTMINSTER, Md. — A historic Black cemetery is getting rezoned within the city limits of Westminster.
On Monday the Mayor and Common Council unanimously approved the annexation of Ellsworth Cemetery on Leidy Road.
Since the late 1870s the site has been a resting place for Black Carroll County residents and military veterans, who at the time were not allowed to be buried within city limits.
The one-plus acre of land was falling into disrepair until 2013 when the Community Foundation of Carroll County renewed efforts to maintain and preserve the property.
RELATED: Securing the future of Ellsworth Cemetery
Last year volunteers unveiled the headstones of nine Black soldiers buried at the cemetery including John Wesley Cole, an infantryman who was wounded following the Battle of Gettysburg.
Earlier this year the organization petitioned the City to annex the cemetery, with the goal of having it become part of the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area.
The move, they say, would make the cemetery eligible for grant funding towards continued preservation efforts.
