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 / 37.415°N 79.15667°WCoordinates: 37°24′54″N 79°9′24″W / 37.415°N 79.15667°W |
| Built: | 1806 |
| Architect: | Unknown |
| Governing body: | Local |
| NRHP Reference#: |
73002216 [1] |
| Added to NRHP: | April 02, 1973 |
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.
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, Lynchburg, a reconstructed C&O Railway Station furnished as in World War II
- Mourning Museum, museum about mourning customs, located inside the Cemetery Center
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.[2]
[edit] Gallery
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Pest House Museum, Old City Cemetery, Lynchburg VA, November 2008
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Pest House Museum (Sign), Old City Cemetery, Lynchburg VA, November 2008
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Station House Museum, Old City Cemetery, Lynchburg VA, November 2008
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Station House Museum (Sign), Old City Cemetery, Lynchburg VA, November 2008
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Chapel and Columbarium, Old City Cemetery, Lynchburg VA, November 2008
[edit] References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
- ^ "Virginia African American Heritage Program". Old City Cemetery. Virginia African American Heritage Program. 2008-11-21. http://www.aaheritageva.org/search/sites.asp?MailingListID=31.
[edit] External links
- Virginia African American Heritage Program, Old City Cemetery
- Old City Cemetery official site
- National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form
- Register Nomination: Old City Cemetery, Lynchburg photograph
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