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Nashville City Cemetery

36.145761, -86.773486

Description

After the 1822 purchase of four acres of land near the bottom of St. Cloud Hill from John Cockrill (1757-1837), Peyton Robertson (1742-1814), and Richard Cross, the City of Nashville opened the City Cemetery. Designed by the famed architect William Strickland (1788-1854), the cemetery later expanded to twenty-seven acres. Approximately 22,000 people are buried at the City Cemetery including approximately 6,000 African Americans, ranging from slaves and freedmen. There are more than 2,000 unnamed infants also interred. During the Civil War, the cemetery temporarily held Union and Confederate soldiers. In 1958, Nashville Mayor Ben West (1911-1974) led an effort to restore and preserve the cemetery. The City Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

Title Nashville City Cemetery
Creator Nashville Historical Foundation
Author Juliet Larkin-Gilmore, Vanderbilt PhD Candidate; 2019
Date 1822; 1958
Address 1001 Fourth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37203
Type Landscape
Coverage Area 2
Source City of Nashville, original owner; William Strickland, architect
Contributor Nashville City Cemetery Association, Incorporated; Ben West; Metroolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County; Metropolitan Parks and Recreation Department
Subject African Americans; Antebellum; Civil War; Diseases; Early History; Military; National Register of Historic Places; Neighborhoods; Public Parks; Post-World War II; Recreation
Keywords Cemeteries, Cholera, Confederate Army, Fort Negley, Landscapes, Metro Parks, Union Army, Wedgewood-Houston, Nashville City Cemetery, Civil War
Rights CC BY-NC 4.0