A new historical marker will honor the erased Zion Cemetery in Tampa, where archaeologists found hundreds of graves under public housing apartments and two adjacent businesses. “Thousands of people drive north on Florida Avenue every day. They have no idea that they're passing that cemetery,” Fred Hearns, historian and president of the Zion Cemetery Preservation and Maintenance Society, said. 10 Investigates got an advance copy of the text for the marker, which explains the cemetery’s complicated history and how it got erased. Established around 1900 by Richard Doby, a prominent Black businessman in Tampa, the cemetery faced a number of threats. “As a result of the City of Tampa falsely taxing the property, ownership of the property was taken from the cemetery owners and returned to the original, White, land owners. J. J. Head, Hillsborough County Treasurer, was able to use his position and tax knowledge to initiate the process as early as 1907, though burials continued until 1923, if not slightly longer,” the marker text reads. A storefront was eventually built on the cemetery, followed by homes and eventually a towing lot and Robles Park Village Apartments, a public housing complex in the city. During the construction of Robles Park Village, crews uncovered caskets but continued building anyway. MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/special-reports/erased/tampas-erased-black-zion-cemetery/67-432223a5-4e72-4ec5-b449-ad49e37437d3