Featured image for “State law should protect Nassau Gullah/Geechee cemeteries, but lawmakers didn’t close loopholes”
September 21, 2022

State law should protect Nassau Gullah/Geechee cemeteries, but lawmakers didn’t close loopholes

This is Part 2 of a two-part Jacksonville Today series. Read Part 1.  For decades, Madelyn Dinkins-Smith’s family members have been buried in Gross Cemetery in rural Nassau County. Her grandfather, grandmother, aunt and uncle are laid to rest in the rural plot in a Rayonier-owned forest — a place where some of them worked in logging for the timber

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Featured image for “Gullah/Geechee families fight to protect burial sites in Nassau County’s Wildlight development”
September 20, 2022

Gullah/Geechee families fight to protect burial sites in Nassau County’s Wildlight development

This is Part 1 of a two-part Jacksonville Today series. Read Part 2.  Deep in the woods of Nassau County, on Rayonier-owned logging land near the St. Marys River, is a fenced-in area with a few dozen stakes in the ground. Each one marks a likely grave site. A “No trespassing” sign hangs on the gate.  This historic Gullah/Geechee cemetery, known

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