Bransford Family Cemetery

The Bransford Family Cemetery is a small historic family burial ground and memorial off Flint Ridge Road. Reaching it takes about a quarter-mile walk on a dirt path. Its grade and accessibility are not documented, so check with the park if you need a firm-surface route.

Materson and Nicholas Bransford were enslaved men brought from Nashville to Mammoth Cave in 1838, where they became two of the cave’s first Black guides. Their family’s guiding work continued through five generations for more than 150 years. Materson’s son Henry guided in the 1860s; Henry’s sons Matt and Louis followed in the early 1900s.

Look for small stones marking burial locations, interpretive signs, a bench and a large black Bransford memorial stone with portraits of Materson and Nicholas. Henry Bransford’s grave has one of the cemetery’s few proper headstones.

Before the park was established, more than 600 families lived in the Flint Ridge settlement. It had a school, church, homes and the Bransford Summer Resort, a hotel that served African Americans during segregation. The cemetery connects the cave guides’ story to that wider community.

Jerry Bransford, a fifth-generation guide, returned to work at Mammoth Cave in the early 2000s and helped clean up and interpret the cemetery. He retired in 2022 after nearly 20 years at the cave.