A Brief HistoryThe Red Clay Creek Church Cemetery is located at the corner of McKennan’s Church and Mill Creek Roads -- next to the church. The cemetery has existed since before the American Revolution. The earliest known gravestone notes the death of Elizabeth Wiley in 1766.The cemetery is administered and maintained by the Cemetery Company, which was incorporated in 1865. Since its original incorporation the cemetery has added land through purchases or gifts on five occasions. The cemetery now comprises approximately 12 acres. In 1887 lots eight by ten feet in the “old yard” sold for $10, while other lots cost $20. By 1903 lots cost $24. In 1920 by-laws were written and officers elected so that a fund for perpetual care of the grounds could be established. As late as the 1940s, teenaged boys of the congregation were paid for digging graves by hand. Mrs. Fred A. Trimble remembers as a child coming by trolley from Wilmington to Brandywine Springs where her family transferred to the Kennett Square Traction Line. They got off near Red Clay Creek Church, clipped and tidied up their cemetery lot, had a picnic lunch, and returned home again from the outing by trolley. In 2006 a new area (F Section) was constructed for the burial of cremated remains. This is located on the north side of the cemetery. Church members should contact the church office for information about purchase of lots. References:
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