Efforts to upgrade Mt. Carmel Cemetery are not new. "Practically every decade of its history saw an attempt to raise funds to make improvements, to control undergrowth, and in the days of free ranging cattle, to keep up a fence and provide gates" (Adams, 2001).

Bessie Robinson organized a committee in 1949 dedicated to continuous upkeep of the grounds. "It was reported that more than 2,500 graves were overgrown with weeds and vines. A series of meetings was held to organize a committee and to raise funds. More than 300 responded to a meeting called in April 1950. A request for volunteers to clean the cemetery brought out more than 50 miners who cleared the several acres in three weeks. A fund of more than $500 was raised to keep the grounds cleaned" (Adams, 2001).

Mrs. Robinson was the treasurer of the Mt. Carmel Cemetery Committee for forty years. After she passed away in 1990, the committee has continued to keep the cemetery in good condition. The West Blocton Improvement Committee dedicated a historical marker at the southeast corner of the grounds.

*Adams, C.E. (2001). Blocton: The History of an Alabama Coal Mining Town. Brierfied: Cahaba Trace Commission.