Residents ask council to complete Honey Hill cemetery survey before park work proceeds

Several speakers on Oct. 14 addressed council during citizen participation to request that the City of Charleston complete a boundary survey of the Honey Hill Graveyard before adding amenities to adjacent Stephen Washington Park or approving further development.

Anna B. Johnson, identifying herself as a former Charleston County Council member and the great-great-granddaughter of Pliny White, founder of Honey Hill in 1871, asked the council to finish a partially completed survey and "have a really good boundary of what the cemetery is before any further development is happening in the area." She said there are likely burials beyond visible headstones and urged the city to avoid placing amenities over unmarked graves.

Leroy Davis and other commenters also pressed for completion of the survey to protect gravesites and family burial locations. Joe McGee, president of the Holliston Village Association, spoke on a separate agenda item (MUSC overlay) but also provided written comments to council; his written remarks were distributed to councilmembers.

Why it matters: speakers tied the request to preservation of historic gravesites, to respectful land use around Stephen Washington Park, and to ensuring development or park improvements do not inadvertently disturb burials.

Next steps: Council did not take formal action on the request during the meeting. The clerk reported that two written comments were distributed to council and that Mr. McGee’s comments were on members’ desks. Residents asked staff to prioritize completion of the survey and to preserve identified grave boundaries in subsequent planning decisions.

Ending: Speakers thanked council for listening and asked for the city to prioritize a completed survey to guide park amenities and future development decisions in the Honey Hill area.