Gainesville Cemeteries: Nasa Reinterment

Gainesville Baptist Church Cemetery

In spite of the title of this web page, there are no cemeteries in Gainesville, MS. In fact, there's not even a town of Gainesville any more.

On October 25, 1961, Nasa announced the decision to establish a national rocket testing site in Hancock County. Some 13,500 acres were acquired, mainly to serve as an acoustical buffer zone. Five small towns, Gainesville, Logtown, Napoleon, Santa Rosa and Westonia, had to be evacuated. Because Gainesville was located in the construction zone, its two cemeteries were moved as well.

Nasa reinterred 306 graves from the Gainesville Baptist Church Cemetery (site "A"), and 177 graves from the Gainesville Colored Cemetery (site "B").

Below is a list of all persons, their birth and death date (if known), the Nasa site and reinterment number, and the cemetery they were moved to. If the cemetery is located in Hancock County, you can click on the name to go to that particular cemetery.

A total of 224 graves were unmarked at the time. Of those, 110 were reintered to Spring Branch Church Cemetery and 114 were reintered to New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery.

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