Charles Dunn graciously took me on a ‘drive around’ one day. It was my first visit to Pineview Cemetery. I thought of Allen Gurganus, who wrote the opening piece in a book called 27 Views of Hillsborough – Old Houses & Young Men. “Something about living in sight of stones that stand for persons expired these two and a half centuries its…….restful” I might add that Gurganus’s contribution is worth the price of the book. I love stone statuary found in gardens and cemeteries. Visit my Pinterest Board on the subject. This sleeping angel is found in Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, DC. She finds the cemetery restful too.
A brief reminder about Pineview: the oldest and largest of the cemeteries owned and operated by the City of Rocky Mount. It is located on the south side of Raleigh Road between Pineview St. and Fairview Rd., in eastern Rocky Mount. Looking across the cemetery there is a line where the angels and larger monuments stop and smaller monuments continue on helping to date the cemetery. Pineview was purchased on May 6, 1889 from what was the Rocky Mount Cemetery Association. Additional land around the cemetery was later purchased by the city to increase the graveyard’s area to 70 acres. There are plots from the 1700s and 1800s. The cemetery is split into sections; a Jewish section, a veterans’ section near Waks Street, and even a paupers’ field near the office on Pineview Street. I found it a blessed moment quietly reading the head stones of families that have made an impact on Rocky Mount. In the mystery of things, I hope they know their good deeds live on.
“Live an exemplary life as a leader. When you are gone, you will still lead from the grave because your influence, impacts and inspirations, will become information for the living.”
Israelmore Ayivor, Leaders’ Ladder
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Main Street Rocky Mount 
My grandparents are buried there, William Rhodes, Mathis and his wife, pearl Mathis, and two children
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My great grandmother lived adjacent to Pineview and most of my family is buried there. I grew up in RMT, played baseball and spent hours banging a tennis ball against the wall at the courts and flew homemade kites in Eastern Ave Park with my great grandmothers second husband. That in itself is quite a story. Still have family in RMT and I miss that area.
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Thank you for leaving your note and for reading the blog. Would love to hear more about your family if you would like to have a visit about them.There are a lot of wonderful things happening in Rocky Mount everyday.Next visit you will need a tour.
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Does anyone know if there is a section at Pineview called “baby land”?
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Many of my family members are buried in Pineview. I don’t get to visit Rocky Mount very often but I always make time to visit the graves of my family members. My mother grew up on Eastern Avenue and my father on Harris Street.
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Thank you for reading the blog and leaving this comment. Would love to talk to you about your family. I gather you are out of town, but perhaps we could visit by phone. If you are interested in sharing a few memories, I hope to continue writing from time to time about the families gathered in Pineview.
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Interesting your quoting Allan’s book. His childhood family home was on Fairview Rd. and backed up to Pineview Cemetery. Perhaps that was an influence. Often, in the days of our youth we played in Eastern Ave. Park which also bordered the cemetery, and sometimes our play overflowed into it.
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I love your addition to this post. Thank you! Wish we could talk more about your memories. I would love to continue writing about the families buried there or stories like yours. If you are local, could I catch up with you sometime. Thank you for reading the blog.
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Allan Gurganus was my neighbor and Pineview Cemetery was literally out our backdoor? Lots of history in Pineview.
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The piece Gurganus wrote was about moving to Hillsborough and buying an old home that he felt he became its new caretaker. It looks out on a cemetery. Wish we could talk further about your memories of Pineview. Any chance we could catch up with one another? Thank you for reading the blog.
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Have many relatives burried there.
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Hi Seluda- I’m not sure exactly what you mean, but I did not count the number of headstones of individual families. It seemed that many of the gathered families are buried together in a family plot. Thank you for reading the blog!
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Can one locate a particular grave on line ?
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Hi Betty: I called the following number…. 252-972-1158 and talked to the cemetery. She said if you call and give her the name you are looking for she can tell you if they are buried there and, of course, where. Hope this helps. Thanks for reading Main Street Rocky Mount. Please FOLLOW so we can stay in touch.
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