Willow Grove Community Cemetery has served the Willow Grove community since the late 1800s. Former slaves William "Buck" Manning and A.W. Crawford moved here with their families in the years following emancipation in 1865 and founded Willow Grove in 1871. After purchasing property, each donated an acre of land to establish Willow Grove Baptist Church and the cemetery. The first burial was Dallas Gardner in 1880, followed later that year by infant Joe A. Crawford. Most of Willow Grove’s early settlers, including Buck Manning and A.W. Crawford, are buried here, along with members of the Brown, Hamilton, Roberson, and McLennan families. Notable burials include Jewett Presnall Preston Manning, a World War II veteran and Speegleville fire chief. Veterans of foreign conflicts dating to World War I are also interred here, and a number of graves are unmarked. In 1935, concerned residents formed the Willow Grove Homecoming Club, later renamed Willow Grove Homecoming, to maintain the grounds and set guidelines for interment of family and community members. The association still cares for the burial ground, which continues to serve area residents and descendants of the pioneering families who formed this rural settlement.