Old Town of Flushing Burial Ground
Old Town of Flushing Burial Ground is a historic cemetery located in Flushing, Queens, New York City. It was established in 1840 and known as The Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground. It was the result of Cholera and Smallpox epidemics in 1840 and 1844, added by town elders north of Flushing Cemetery due to fears of contamination of church burial grounds. Once known as "Pauper Burial Ground", "Colored Cemetery of Flushing" and "Martins Field", it was purchased by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation on December 2, 1914, and renamed in 2009 to "The Olde Towne of Flushing Burial Ground".It is co-located with a children's playground called "Martin’s Field". The cemetery's recognition and status as a Queens landmark was spearheaded by local community activist Mandingo Osceola Tshaka, who became interested in the cemetery when he discovered that members from the Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church of Flushing were buried there.