PUBLIC HEARING: Re Disinterment of the Norman/Lynn Cemetery at the Coles Firehouse

NOTICE:  PUBLIC HEARING

Norman/Lynn Cemetery at the Coles Firehouse in Independent Hill

There will be a Public Hearing on September 8, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. before the Prince William County Board of County Supervisors for comments on the possible disinterment of the graves beside the Coles Firehouse in Independent Hill.

The Hearing will be in the Board of Supervisors Chambers in the James J. McCoart Administration Building, 1 County Complex Ct., Woodbridge, VA 22192.  (This is the brick building in the County Complex.)

Because of the cost of the proposed new firehouse, compared to the cost of alternatives, the vote of the Board of Supervisors is predisposed toward disinterment of the Norman/Lynn Cemetery situated in the lot immediately beside the present firehouse.  It should be noted that the County has been aware of this cemetery since the original firehouse was built.

The Norman/Lynn Cemetery was established at least as early as 1855, with the interment of Charles E. Norman, a local merchant and county magistrate.  It may even be older, with the early demise of two of Charles and Mary Frances (Lynn) Norman’s children who would undoubtedly have been buried in the family cemetery.

A large turnout at the Public Hearing would show the Board of Supervisors that all gravesites – even ones that have been neglected (in this case, by the county itself) – deserve respect and should be allowed to remain undisturbed.  Let our ancestors rest in peace!