The 1818 Stouf Map is one of the oldest maps of Savannah that illustrates the early location of the 'Negro Burial Ground'. The Stouf map indicates the names of streets intersecting and surrounding the burial ground.
T'shari White, a geographer and environmental scientist, compared vintage and current maps of Savannah. She certified the burial ground area is a match.
Some historians believe the burial ground extended beyond the borders illustrated on the map. It is argued that Whitefield Square, Calhoun Square (the Eastern Trust Lots section) and the space in between the squares, were all a part of the 'Negro / African Burial Ground'. These areas are within a 2 - 3 minute walking distance from each other.In March 2021 the Savannah Municipal Archives published a report about the African burial ground and the nearby Strangers Ground (Potter's Field / New Cemetery).
In the report it is noted the African burial ground included a fence. However, newspaper reports from that time period detail the acute disrepair of the fence and burial ground as a whole. The site was reportedly plagued by a lack of supervision and illegal activity which included grave robbing.
Due to institutional racism the burial ground was not properly maintained or documented by the City of Savannah as required.
In 1855 the Savannah Daily Republican Newspaper reported “The City paid $722 to remove the interments from the Old Negro Cemetery. The rapid extension of the city southward, the dilapidated condition of the old Negro Cemetery, and the rude assaults of the sacrilegious hands upon the repose of the dead, rendered it necessary to remove the remains of colored persons to the place appointed for their sepulture near the Laurel Grove Cemetery.” The 1855 Treasurer Cash books note three payments for “Paid City Marshall for Hire of Laborers in removing remains of negroes."