Old City Cemetery

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 2200 soldiers from 14 states.

The 26 acre 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.

References

* Old City Cemetery [http://www.aaheritageva.org/search/sites.asp?MailingListID=31] - Virginia African Heritage Program

External links

* [http://www.aaheritageva.org/search/sites.asp?MailingListID=31 Information on Old City Cemetery from Virginia African Heritage Program]
* [http://www.gravegarden.org/ Old City Cemetery official site]