Mount Holly Cemetery is a historic

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

located in the Quapaw Quarter area of downtown

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, and is the burial place for numerous Arkansans of note. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1970 and has been nicknamed "The Westminster Abbey of Arkansas".

Major events

"Tales of the Crypt"

Every year in October several

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

students from

Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School :'' For other places with this name, see Parkview School (disambiguation).'' Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School is a magnet school in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States that concentrates heavily on science and the arts. It is Arkansa ...

are each given a person buried in the cemetery to research. They then prepare short monologues or dialogues, complete with period costumes, to be performed in front of the researched person's grave. Audiences are led through the cemetery from grave to grave by guides with candles. The event is called "Tales of the Crypt". Although it takes place around the same time as the American holiday

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

, the event is meant to be historic rather than spooky.

2016 vandalism

The cemetery experienced heavy vandalism in the overnight hours of April 20, 2016. Numerous headstones were toppled and smashed, including the well-known statues of a mourner next to statues of two little girls.

Notable burials

The cemetery is the burial place for ten former Arkansas governors, six United States senators, 14 Arkansas Supreme Court justices, 21 Little Rock mayors, numerous Arkansas literary figures, Confederate generals, and other worthies. There are also several

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

s who are buried there, marked by modest gravestones. *

Dale Alford Thomas Dale Alford, Sr. (January 28, 1916 – January 25, 2000) was an American ophthalmologist and politician from the U.S. state of Arkansas who served as a conservative Democrat in the United States House of Representatives from Little Rock f ...

(1916–2000),

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from Arkansas (1959-1963) and noted

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...

* Matthew Cunningham (1756-1842),

Revolutionary War battlefield surgeon A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

First Mayor of Little Rock First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number 1 (number), one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, D ...

First physician in Little Rock and first surgeon in Arkansas First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

David Owen Dodd David Owen Dodd (November 10, 1846 – January 8, 1864), also known as David O. Dodd, was an Arkansas youth executed for spying in the American Civil War. In December 1863 Dodd carried some letters to business associates of his father in Union ...

(1846–1864), boy martyr of the Confederacy *

Sandford C. Faulkner Sandford C. Faulkner (March 3, 1803August 4, 1874), better known as Sandy Faulkner, was an American planter, raconteur and fiddler who personified the mid- 19th century folk song " Arkansas Traveler," for which he received writing credit. It ha ...

(1803–1874), the original 'Arkansas Traveller' *

John Gould Fletcher John Gould Fletcher (January 3, 1886 – May 10, 1950) was an Imagist poet (the first Southern poet to win the Pulitzer Prize), author and authority on modern painting. He was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, to a socially prominent family. After a ...

(1886–1950), Pulitzer Prize–winning poet * Thomas Fletcher (1817–1880), acting governor of Arkansas (1862) *

William Savin Fulton William Savin Fulton (June 2, 1795 – August 15, 1844) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Arkansas from 1836 until his death in 1844. He had previously served as the fourth governor of Arkansas Te ...

(1795–1844), U.S. senator from Arkansas (1836–1844) *

George Izard George Izard (October 21, 1776 – November 22, 1828) was a senior officer of the United States Army who served as the second governor of Arkansas Territory from 1825 to 1828. He was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 18 ...

(1776–1828), governor of Arkansas Territory from 1825 to 1828 *

Robert Ward Johnson Robert Ward Johnson (July 22, 1814 – July 26, 1879) was an American planter and lawyer who served as the senior Confederate States senator for Arkansas, a seat that he was elected to in 1861. He previously served as a delegate from Arkansas ...

(1814–1879), C.S. senator from Arkansas (1862–1865) *

Frank D. White Frank Durward White (born Durward Frank Kyle Jr.; June 4, 1933 – May 21, 2003) was an American banker and politician who served as the 41st governor of Arkansas. He served a single two-year term from 1981 to 1983. Early years, family, ed ...

(1933–2003), governor of Arkansas from 1981 to 1983 *

William W. Wilshire William W. Wilshire (born William Wallace Wilshire; September 8, 1830 – August 19, 1888)Arkansas CourtsA Self-Guided Tour of Justice Building Portraits(2016), p. 8. was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for ( ...

(1830–1888), U.S. representative from 1873 to 1877; chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court from 1868 to 1871 * William E. Woodruff (1795–1885), founder of the ''

Arkansas Gazette The ''Arkansas Gazette'' was a newspaper in Little Rock, Arkansas, that was published from 1819 to 1991. It was known as the oldest newspaper west of the Mississippi River. It was located from 1908 until its closing at the now historic Gazette ...

References

External links

; Official * ; General information
Mount Holly Cemetery
at ''

Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) ''Encyclopedia of Arkansas'' is a World Wide Web, web-based encyclopedia of the U.S. state of Arkansas, described by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as "a free, authoritative source of ...

''
Mount Holly Cemetery
at

Find A Grave Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fin ...

Mount Holly Cemetery
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations of ...