Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery is a historic

Evangelical Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

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 ...

and national

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

located near Speedwell,

Wythe County, Virginia Wythe County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,290. Its county seat is Wytheville. History Wythe County was formed from Montgomery County in 1790. It was ...

. The cemetery includes approximately 250–300 total gravestones. Forty two of the stones have dates ranging from the 1790s to 1840, but all were carved between about 1835 to 1840. It is likely that a skilled carver moved to the area in the mid-1830s and provided stones for many graves, which formerly had been marked with improvised stone or wooden markers, then completed his work by 1840. The thick

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

markers are Germanic stones with surviving inscriptions. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> 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 1979.

References

External links

* * * {{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Churches in Wythe County, Virginia Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Wythe County, Virginia Lutheran cemeteries in the United States