831 Happy Creek Road
Front Royal, Virginia 22630
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Directions from Happy Creek Loop to site 21:
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Founded in 1874, the property for this cemetery was purchased from James R. and Elizabeth M. Richards by the Trustees of the Free Will Benevolent & Cemetery Society and was originally named “Happy Creek Road Cemetery.” The trustees included: Alexander Johnson, Daniel Steel, Thornton Tanzy, Charles Walker, Joseph Dixon, and Willis Beeden. Beeden was one of the founders of Mount Vernon Baptist Church and the namesake of Freetown’s Beeden Lane. The deed stipulated the burial ground was for the use and benefit of the African American community of Front Royal, and it was to be free from the control of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, except that they may also use it as a cemetery.
In 1945 land was acquired to expand the cemetery grounds. The cemetery was later divided into a Happy Creek section, managed by The Beneficiary Club of Happy Creek, and a Front Royal section, managed by the Cemetery Club & Trustees of Front Royal. Good Hope Cemetery has served the Happy Creek community for 133 years and is the final resting place for many notable African American residents, including Haywood Timbers, John and Dorothy Thompson, Julian and Ressie Jeffries, Hilda J. Barbour, Julia and John Wanzer and Rudolph “Pete” Sloan.
In 1945 land was acquired to expand the cemetery grounds. The cemetery was later divided into a Happy Creek section, managed by The Beneficiary Club of Happy Creek, and a Front Royal section, managed by the Cemetery Club & Trustees of Front Royal. Good Hope Cemetery has served the Happy Creek community for 133 years and is the final resting place for many notable African American residents, including Haywood Timbers, John and Dorothy Thompson, Julian and Ressie Jeffries, Hilda J. Barbour, Julia and John Wanzer and Rudolph “Pete” Sloan.
