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MOUTH-OF-BLACK-RIVER graveyard/burialground,
in old Mouth-of-Black-River village (a.k.a. 'Black River' village, from which, grew the city of Lorain, Ohio).
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Mouth-of-Black-River graveyard was begun sometime after 1809, mainly as the private burial-ground of the Reid family, upon their farm at the mouth of the Black River.
Within this large farm, John S. Reid began to establish a small village (which officially became named 'Black River' village, about 1822). And within that tiny village at the very mouth of the Black River, a small burial-ground was also established.
However, shortly after John S. Reid's death (1831), his heirs expanded the village boundaries, and in 1836 they created a new public burial-ground just on the outskirts of "Charleston" village*. (Unfortunately, the original little graveyard site was not a practical one, due to being directly within the commercial center of the village. So a decision was made to eliminate the original graveyard ---although there is uncertainty if these graves were re-interred to the newer (1836) cemetery; or, instead, only some of the 'headstones', themselves, were simply removed from the old graveyard).
It is not even known if the remains of the village's founder, John S. Reid, and his wife Ann (two of the last-known burials here) were ever re-interred to the later "public" site; therefore it currently must be presumed that they are still interred at the downtown, and now lost, cemetery. Nor is it presently known how many total graves had originally been within that "downtown" cemetery (but probably at least several which never had any headstones, such as was common for the early cemeteries, but even more-so in this lake-port village, because of frequent maritime deaths of sailors, travelers, etc.).
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The location of this original MOUTH-OF-BLACK-RIVER cemetery is said to have been behind what is now the Lorain City Hall structure on West Erie Ave.
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[*--"Charleston" village (later known as being the "village on paper, only") immediately experienced financial failure even before most of its newly-surveyed village-lots were sold -- and as a result, the existing residents quickly rejected the village's new name of "Charleston", in favor of the prior name "Black River" village. ( 'Black River' village was also its official U.S. Postal name until 1874). ]
{ The present "Charleston Cemetery" was formerly known as "Polk Street Cemetery" and also as "Sixth Street Cemetery"; but the present name, "Charleston Cemetery", wasn't assigned until much later, by local-historians in the late-20th-century. However, the last known burials in (so-called)"Charleston Cemetery", occurred while it was still named "Polk Street Cemetery".
Note: the present "Charleston Cemetery" was established as a public cemetery in 1836 -- not "1828", as per its current signage. Another, different, local cemetery that was officially created about 1828 for the (quote)"residents of Black River" Township, was instead actually on a site deeded by Hiram Messenger (on his own land which is proven to be within later-named Amherst Township; and therefore the 1828 "Hiram Messenger deed" is likely the original 'deed' for a oldest portion of the present "Cleveland Street Cemetery", there.).
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