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Board forwards awards list to Historic Preservation Commission; staff unveils Sykes Cemetery searchable database
Summary
The Decatur Architectural Review Board approved a list of award winners to forward to the Historic Preservation Commission and staff presented a searchable Sykes Cemetery database mapping roughly 800 marked and about 800 unmarked graves, funded by a 2022 state grant and supplemental municipal funding for unmarked-grave searches.
During its Feb. 13, 2025 meeting, the Decatur Architectural Review Board approved a motion to forward a proposed list of historic-preservation award winners to the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) for their review. The board voted to approve the submitted list on a voice vote.
Board members then reviewed a staff presentation of the Sykes (Magnolia) Cemetery database, a project produced with a state grant (circa 02/2022) and supplemental municipal funding to search for unmarked graves. Staff said the interactive map is available on the city’s Historic Preservation Facebook page and the municipal website under preservation downloads. Each blue dot in the map represents a marked grave; yellow dots mark graves that show on markers as relocated. Staff said the database includes photos taken in the field and a search function that lets users enter a surname and jump to all matching markers on the map — a tool intended to help family researchers locate graves and provide a starting point for searches among the many unmarked graves.
Staff told the board there are roughly 800 marked graves and about 800 unmarked graves in the cemetery. The project also uncovered graves outside the current cemetery boundaries in some cases. Staff characterized the site as an historic African American cemetery (not a city-owned cemetery) and said the state had been “absolutely ecstatic” about the tool once it was shared with state partners. Board members praised the project’s research value and the public access provided by the online map.
The board stopped the public stream for a portion of the meeting while it discussed non-public award deliberations, then reconvened and approved the awards list for HPC review.
Staff said the database and associated documentation are linked from the municipal preservation downloads and that additional archival detail is available in the full report.
