In a quiet corner of Hampton, preservationists are scrambling to protect a neglected Black burial ground they say sits just feet from a massive data center project already under construction. Volunteers with the nonprofit Honor Thy Roots say the O'Neal AME Church cemetery on Lower Woolsey Road holds headstones dating to the 1800s and has never been formally mapped, and they worry that utility work and grading tied to the neighboring Hampton Technology Park could disturb unmarked graves. The discovery has triggered urgent outreach to city officials and a rush to document the site before heavier construction moves in. Organizers are asking for surveys, markers and guaranteed access so descendants can keep visiting the grounds.
According to FOX 5 Atlanta, Honor Thy Roots members have filmed rows of footstones and sunken plots and launched a fundraiser to buy grave monuments. The station reported that organizers hope to work with city leaders but fear the clock is ticking because the Hampton Technology Park project, a multi-hundred acre data center campus, is already moving dirt. Advocates told FOX 5 Atlanta they have not found records that clearly mark the cemetery boundaries and that some burials could be unmarked.
State Permit Shows Equinix Site Nearby
State permitting records show Equinix has applied for a draft NPDES permit to operate an AT10x data center at 1100 Site Parkway in Hampton, which would recirculate non-contact cooling water and discharge up to 0.35 million gallons per day to Clear Creek, a Flint River tributary. The GEOS fact sheet and permit documents list the facility and outline technical details of the proposed discharge and monitoring requirements, according to Georgia EPD. Environmental and preservation groups say that kind of industrial footprint, along with the utility lines and grading that come with it, can threaten both water quality and fragile historic sites.
City Says Utility Work Will Include Buffer
Hampton City Manager Alex Cohilas told WSB-TV that the land immediately behind the cemetery will host a Georgia Power transfer station and that the utility has agreed to install a more permanent barrier and create an access point to the burial ground. Cohilas said the city is open to working with preservation advocates even though the cemetery sits on private property. Advocates counter that a fence is only a first step and does not replace a full survey that could identify unmarked graves before more work happens nearby.
Where This Fits in the Data Center Boom
The Hampton fight mirrors debates playing out across metro Atlanta, which has become one of the country’s hottest data center markets and where local governments have been hashing out setbacks, buffers and water rules for months, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Henry County has discussed draft ordinances to regulate data centers and their impacts, but advocates say those rules, even if approved, would not retroactively shield historic burial sites that were never recorded. Preservationists are pushing for a straightforward, near-term move: a noninvasive survey and mapping of the cemetery boundaries.
Honor Thy Roots founder Shawndrea Gay and co-founder Efaye Lloyd told WSB-TV they plan to return to the Hampton City Council to press for a survey and formal protections, and they have begun fundraising for markers and repairs. A council meeting advocates planned to attend this week was canceled because there were not enough members present for a quorum, giving the group more time to organize but delaying any official response. Local historians and descendants are being asked to share records that might help document who is buried in the cemetery.
Permits and Property Law
Legally, the draft NPDES permit process allows neighbors and advocacy groups to submit technical comments and request hearings, and the state fact sheet shows EPD set a public comment period and a local hearing on the Equinix application earlier this year, EPD records show. Because the cemetery is on private property and is not listed as a protected historic site, preservationists argue the fastest protection would be a modern, noninvasive ground survey and a recorded boundary agreement with landowners. Officials say those steps are on the table if developers and utility contractors agree to pause work immediately next to the plots.
Volunteers are still photographing stones and logging inscriptions while they wait for answers from the city, Georgia Power and representatives of the data center project, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. For descendants and nearby residents, the effort has become a real-time test of whether municipal permitting, corporate utilities and a small nonprofit can coordinate fast enough to protect century-old graves before construction permanently reshapes the landscape.
