Old City Cemetery (Lynchburg, Virginia)
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Old City Cemetery | |
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Old City Cemetery, Lynchburg VA, View of Confederate Section, November 2008 | |
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| Location | 4th, Monroe, 1st Sts. and Southern RR. tracks, Lynchburg, Virginia |
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| Coordinates | 37°24′54″N 79°9′24″W / 37.41500°N 79.15667°WCoordinates: 37°24′54″N 79°9′24″W / 37.41500°N 79.15667°W |
| Area | 26 acres (11 ha) |
| Built | 1806 |
| NRHP Reference # | 73002216[1] |
| VLR # | 118-0027 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 2, 1973 |
| Designated VLR | September 19, 1972[2] |
The Old City Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Lynchburg, Virginia.
It has been estimated that over 90% of Lynchburg’s enslaved and free African American population are buried in the Old City Cemetery, the primary burial site for African Americans from 1806 to 1865. In fact, at that time it was the only burial ground, excluding private family graveyards, available to African Americans in the area. 75% of the burials in the cemetery are African American. The cemetery's Confederate section contains the graves of over 2,200 soldiers from 14 states.[3] Also interred at the cemetery is poet Bransford Vawter.[4][5]
It was built on land donated to the City of Lynchburg by city founder John Lynch. As the land is soft and slopes downwards towards Blackwater Creek it is unsuitable for residential construction but excellent for a cemetery, so the land was dedicated to that purpose.
The 26-acre (110,000 m2) site includes four small historic house museums are located inside the cemetery, which is cared for by the Southern Memorial Association.
- Pest House Medical Museum, Lynchburg's first hospital
- Hearse House and Caretakers' Museum, museum about the cemetery and funerals
- Station House Museum, a reconstructed C&O Railway Station furnished as in World War II
- Mourning Museum, museum about mourning customs, located inside the Cemetery Center
- Chapel and Columbarium, honors the many religious leaders buried there since 1806
The cemetery also includes a non-denominational chapel, built to commemorate the 200-year anniversary of the founding of Lynchburg's Old City Cemetery in 1806, and the lower columbarium with niches and crypts for new burials.[6]
Gallery
Pest House Museum, Old City Cemetery, Lynchburg VA, November 2008
Pest House Museum (Sign), Old City Cemetery, Lynchburg VA, November 2008
Station House Museum, Old City Cemetery, Lynchburg VA, November 2008
Station House Museum (Sign), Old City Cemetery, Lynchburg VA, November 2008
Chapel and Columbarium, Old City Cemetery, Lynchburg VA, November 2008
References
- ↑ National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
- ↑ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ↑ Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (September 1972). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Old City Cemetery" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo
- ↑ Casey Gillis. "Focus On: Lynchburg resident Dawn Fields Wise a finalist in screenwriting contest - The Burg: Focus On". Newsadvance.com. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
- ↑ Dorothy Potter; Clifton Potter (18 April 2007). Lynchburg: 1757-2007. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 53–. ISBN 978-1-4396-3363-2.
- ↑ "Virginia African American Heritage Program". Old City Cemetery. Virginia African American Heritage Program. 2008-11-21.
External links
Media related to Old City Cemetery (Lynchburg, Virginia) at Wikimedia Commons
