Drone technology helping preserve historic Black church, cemetery in Delaware County

A Delaware County community is working to preserve the ruins of a historic Black church and cemetery while uncovering hidden history beneath the ground.

At a site known as Archie's Corner in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, archaeologists and township leaders are using new technology to map a long-overlooked property and protect the legacy of a trailblazing Black preacher.

Jason Herrmann, an anthropological archeologist with the University of Pennsylvania, is using drone imagery and other tools to survey the remains of the church and the cemetery surrounding it.

"I feel very strongly about this work," Herrmann said.

The survey helped confirm the location of dozens of unmarked graves that are no longer visible from the ground.

Rev. Lydia Archie founded the church at Archie's Corner in 1891. The congregation became the heart of the Black community in Chadds Ford.

Known as "Mother Archie," Archie went on to become the oldest ordained woman preacher in the African Union First Colored Methodist Protestant Church.

After her death, the church fell into disrepair. She and dozens of parishioners were buried in the cemetery beside the church.

"Archie's Corner is really special in that not only do we have this African American cemetery, which is a record of this community, but then we have the intersections with the Wyeth family," Herrmann said.

Those intersections run deep.

Chadds Ford native Andrew Wyeth preserved the site's legacy through dozens of paintings.

Jason Davis from Mount Joy, Lancaster County, said his grandmother, Vivian Kinslow Reed, once lived at Archie's Corner and modeled for Wyeth.

"It holds in a lot of people in Chadds Ford's heart," Davis said. "So if they could rebuild it and make it something close to what it was, I think it would bring a lot of joy to a lot of people."

While a full reconstruction of the church isn't possible, township leaders are working to restore the site.

Timotha Trigg, chair of the Chadds Ford Township Board of Supervisors, said the township is seeking grants to stabilize and improve the property. Many of the headstones have toppled, vegetation has grown over the cemetery and a stone wall has collapsed.

"It's almost a sacred trust to have the responsibility to be a proper steward for a site that's the final resting place of so many people," Trigg said.

Township leaders hope to add signage, mark unmarked graves and even create a virtual reality experience so visitors can see what the church once looked like.

For Herrmann, it's all about connection.

"It's really important just to have people engage with the place around them and its history," he said.

The township is now working with the state to have Archie's Corner added to the National Register of Historic Places.