Nashville City Cemetery tombstone inscription project files, 2005-2006.
(Document/manuscript/pamphlet/archival material)

Organized into volumes;,arranged by cemetery section, thereunder by tombstone number assigned at time of survey.

Materials housed in Special Collections Division of the Main Library, Nashville Public Library.

In library use only. Available by appointment.

Scope and content: Original survey forms used by volunteers of the Nashville City Cemetery Association in their effort to provide accurate transcriptions of extant tombstones (as of 2005-2006), based upon visual observation, interment books, maps, prior transcriptions, and a variety of other resources. These survey forms were the working files and the basis for information which appears in the typed transcriptions, bound and available for reference use in the Nashville Room of the Special Collections Division of the Nashville Public Library. The collection of survey forms also includes a brief administrative history of the project, as well as a name index and an index by cemetery section. These files are located in the first box of the collection.

Cite as: Nashville City Cemetery Tombstone Inscription Project Files; Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library

Copyright retained by donor.

Fletch Coke;,Gift;,2006.,Acc. 2007.023.

The Nashville City Cemetery Association, Inc. was formally established as a 501c3 organization in 1997, after several attempts to organize a similar organization prior to that time. It is a membership organization that works to protect, preserve, restore and raise public awareness of the Nashville City Cemetery in collaboration with the Historical Commission and Board of Parks and Recreation of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. The mission of NCCA is to raise funds for restoration and maintenance of the city cemetery. Projects include repairing tombstones, restoring the buildings, raising public awareness, planning events, and creating educational materials that can be used by cemetery visitors.

The City Cemetery is the oldest continuously operated public cemetery in Nashville. On March 9, 1820, the Mayor of Nashville and the aldermen purchased from Richard Cross four acres of land located "on the plains,south of town, for its burying ground." The cemetery opened on January 1, 1822. Fourteen years later the cemetery had outgrown its original site and more acres were acquired. By 1850 the cemetery was the final resting place for over 11,000 people of every race, religion and economic status. Since the opening, there have been 20,000 interments in the City Cemetery. Over the years, there have been removals such as the Civil War Federal soldiers to the National Cemetery, Gallatin Pike, and the relocation of graves to new family lots in Mt. Olivet Cemetery after the Civil War. In 1878, aldermen closed the cemetery to new burials, except for descendents of owners with unfilled plots; a policy still in place in 2006. In the early twentieth century, the cemetery fell into neglect. In 1959 a major restoration project was completed under Mayor Ben West. The City Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 because of its historical and architectural significance. By the close of the twentieth century, the cemetery had again fallen into disrepair and suffered from vandalism. In August 2006, the Metro Council under Mayor Bill Purcell approved funding of $3 million for restoration work.

In English

Researchers are urged to consult the bound volumes of tombstone transcriptions prior to consulting the original project files.

Process;,2007;,Patrick Barnes.

No further accruals are expected.