The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
     he refreshes my soul. – Psalm 23

Thursday afternoon, in the shade of the gorgeous trees that populate Old Town Cemetery at the Presbyterian Church, a small circle of folk gathered to hear an interesting and informative lecture presented by Edward Roberson.

Stories. This old Tarboro burial ground is full with them, stories that give this historic community such distinctive character and definition and life.

Just across the street from the historic churchyard and arboretum of Calvary Episcopal Church, the urban green space surrounding Howard Memorial Presbyterian Church cultivates a more open and park-like feel. And on this day, with the branches and leaves swaying in the breezy late afternoon, it is one of the most beautiful and peaceful places in the historic district.

The town of Tarboro was surveyed and laid out in 1760, with the block defined by Saint Patrick, Saint James, Saint David and Pitt streets set aside as the town cemetery shortly thereafter. The town shifted burials to Howard Avenue in the middle of the 20th Century and the last person interred was local character and patriot extraordinaire “Miss Mattie Shackelford” in 1960.

Ms. Mattie, who drove an ambulance in WW1, built a chapel of remembrance to the dead of both World Wars. Her devoted dog died shortly after her funeral and was laid to rest beside her – unofficially – in a grave secretly prepared in the middle of the night. So I guess Miss Mattie’s dog was really the final resident of Tarboro’s Old Town Cemetery.

The original grounds included a community building at the corner of Saint James and Saint Patrick. That structure was replaced by a sanctuary when the Presbyterians organized in 1874. The current worship space (described as “the handsomest church in the state” by one newspaper) was completed in 1909 and the education wing in 1954.

The town, however, woefully neglected the old burial grounds and the land fell into disrepair and overgrowth until, circa 2010, the entire block was deeded to the church.

A gift for the community:

This is where providence took a hand, and in a remarkable and miraculous series of bequests, fundraising initiatives and feats of leadership, the vision, the plan and the implementation all came together. The result was the treasure and gift that is today’s beautiful campus surrounding the Presbyterian Church.

The heart and the purpose has been to create a friendly, welcoming urban green space so that the church grounds offer a ministry of refreshment to the community. This includes the placement of gates on every street, designed to serve as an encouragement to anyone in need of pause and prayer. “Come on in,” they say in the midst of a tumultuous world, “and experience a Psalm 23 interface with the Presbyterian Church.”

“He refreshes my soul.”

Psalm 23

There are so many stories – like the grave of the young daughter of the Episcopalian minister who tried to start a church here in the 1820s – the family abandoned the town shortly after. Or the man in 1890 who wandered from his sick bed, went missing and drowned in the Tar. The minister refused to do the funeral because of suspicion surrounding the death. The rector at Calvary (eventually founded in 1833) was willing and the family buried him behind the Presbyterian Church anyway, late that evening in the dark.

Today’s Howard Memorial Presbyterian Church members serve as imaginative and generous stewards of these lovely grounds. These walls contain the Old Town Cemetery, the Memorial Gardens, beautifully contoured lawns, keepers of a thousand stories and – as the landscape architect who helped develop the plan described the trees that move with such grace – a constantly evolving exhibition of kinetic art.

Wander through one day. The gates are always unlocked. Then return Sunday morning for worship.

Wonders like this beautiful urban green-space do not happen in a vacuum. This kind of vision is the fruit of authentic life. – DEREK

The trees here are a constantly evolving exhibition of kinetic art