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WINSTON-SALEM – An abandoned graveyard is getting some much needed TLC. Saturday morning, dozens of people came out to clean up the Happy Hill Graveyard. The cemetery has been neglected for more than 70 years.

The site is home to a genealogy of uncles and aunts, mothers and fathers. They are family members that date back to the early 1900s.

"My father has told me so much about what they did for this community," said Maurice Pitts-Johnson. "He was the second settler to buy property in this community."

Pitts-Johnson says her mother and father and maybe even some siblings are buried in the Happy Hill Graveyard.

"From what they have told me, they were the kind of family who took care of everybody who needed to be helped. If you needed food, you could go to the Pitts' house. If you needed coal, you could go to the Pitts' house. So they were doing so much for the people in this community, and I think they deserve to be recognized or at least acknowledged that they are here and that this is sacred," said Pitts-Johnson.

Historian Dr. Michael Hartlet says there's not much information available on the grave site and many of the graves are unmarked, leaving people to speculate who could be buried in the age-old cemetery.

"Although the grave stones that we see seem to be from the early 20th century on, there are burials of people who are born in the early 1930s and 40s," said Hartlet.

Hartlet, with Old Salem Museums and Gardens, helped organize the massive cleanup. Now he hopes the community will continue its efforts to protect and preserve the history in Happy Hill.

"This is what this place needs. It needs a presence of living people to say we respect this place, we'll clean it up and we want to take care of it," he said.

If you have more information on the history of the Happy Hill Graveyard, call Old Salem Museums and Gardens at (336) 721-7300.