National Register of Historic Places

Greenlawn Cemetery

Newport News (Independent City), Newport News County, Virginia
Listed
February 5, 1999
Type
Site
Period
Listed
Ref No.
99000139

About this property

Greenlawn Memorial Park, also known as Greenlawn Cemetery, is located at 2700 Parish Avenue, Newport News, Virginia. Greenlawn Memorial Park is a 50-acre (200,000 m2) cemetery located where two natural streams, Mill Dam Creek and Salters Creek, come together. The cemetery has been in continuous operation, serving the Newport News and Hampton, Virginia, since 1888. There are approximately 20,000 burials in the cemetery. Greenlawn Memorial Park is on the National Register of Historic Places. Greenlawn Cemetery was developed by the Newport News Cemetery Company beginning February 14, 1888. The incorporators were T. H. Gordon, Louis Bremond, I. E. White, Theodore Livezey, E. Clayton, E. B. Smith, T. E. Monis and M. B. Crowell. By the terms of the charter, they were authorized to associate others with them. Walter A. Post, George Benjamin West, Carter M. Braxton, W. B. Livezey, C. B. Nelms and W. J. Nelms were added as associates. At the center of the cemetery is a 25-foot (7.6 m) obelisk erected in 1900 marking the mass grave of 163 Confederate Prisoners of War. The 163 Confederate soldiers were re-interred there in 1900. These were POWs who died in the nearby Newport News POW camp between April 27, 1865 and July 5, 1865. At the foot of this monument is a granite ledger with the names, rank, state and unit of each soldier. Soldiers from 13 southern states are represented. The cemetery office building is a 1936 Sears Catalog Home. Pleasant Shade Cemetery was established adjacent to Greenlawn for African Americans in 1909. It is the resting place of Lightfoot Solomon Michaux and other notables.

Location

2700 Parish Ave.
Newport News (Independent City), Newport News County, Virginia
36.99742, -76.40358

Categories

SOCIAL HISTORYLANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Smith's Pharmacy
Industrial
0.4 mi
Newsome, J. Thomas, House
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0.5 mi
Whittaker Memorial Hospital
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0.7 mi
Quarters 17
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1 mi
Fields, James A., House
Industrial
1.3 mi

Nearby Battles

Naval Engagement at Hampton Roads (CSS Albemarle sortie)
1864Civil War
0.3 mi
Action at Newport News Point
1861Civil War
2.3 mi

Questions about this property

When was Greenlawn Cemetery listed on the National Register?

Greenlawn Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 5, 1999.

What type of historic resource is Greenlawn Cemetery?

Greenlawn Cemetery is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Greenlawn Cemetery?

The period of significance for Greenlawn Cemetery is recorded as the listed era.

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