RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- A state historical marker approved by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) will be unveiled for the first city-run African cemetery in Richmond. A dedication ceremony for the historical marker for Richmond's First Municipal African Cemetery will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 1541 E. Broad St., at the corner of 16th Street, in front of the small white brick building. According to DHR, the marker's dedication and unveiling will take place as part of the 22nd Annual Gabriel Gathering, recalling Gabriel's Conspiracy of 1800. The dedication event is free and open to the public, with public parking lots located at Marshall and 16th Streets, as well as behind Main Street Station. According to DHR, Richmond's First Municipal African Cemetery came into existence in 1799 on land that the city acquired in what is currently the Shockoe Bottom neighborhood. The burial ground contained the graves of enslaved and free Africans and people of African descent, according to DHR. Free Black Richmonders reportedly took offense to the cemetery's location as it was also the site of one of the local gallows and, among other indignities, experienced frequent flooding that disturbed burials. According to DHR, the free Black Richmonders petitioned for a new cemetery, which led the city to open the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground in 1816, located a mile away. Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground (Courtesy of Julia Ball) By the 1950s, much of the original cemetery was covered by Interstate 95 and parking lots. Starting in the early 2000s, Richmond activists led a successful campaign to reclaim, protect and memorialize the city's First Municipal African Cemetery, which is now called the Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground. RELATED: Richmond mayor calls for billboard located on African burial site to be removed The Virginia Board of Historic Resources approved the manufacture and installation of the historical marker for the site in June 2023. DHR, which sponsored the marker with funding provided by the General Assembly, covered the marker's manufacturing costs.