The old Benevolent Society No. 2 Cemetery now known as African Cemetery No. 2 was originally established in a rural setting. It is being preserved and restored in honor of our forebears and community builders. 

​

Our cemetery was the first burial site of Isaac Burns Murphy, winner of three Kentucky Derbies and first African American inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1955. It also holds the remains of Oliver Lewis, the jockey who won the inaugural Kentucky Derby in 1875, Abraham Perry, the trainer of Joe Cotton, winner of the Kentucky, Tennessee, Coney Island and five other derby races in 1885 and James “Soup” Perkins, who tied a record as being the youngest jockey to win the Kentucky Derby in 1895.

​

Click here to watch a short video featured on the Kentucky Tourism site.