Fairview Cemetery, also known as the Van Buren Cemetery, is a historic cemetery on the east side of
Arkansas Highway 59
Arkansas Highway 59 is a north–south List of Arkansas state highways, state highway in Northwest Arkansas. The route runs from Arkansas Highway 22 in Barling, Arkansas, Barling north to the Missouri state line through Van Buren, Arkansas, V ...
in
Van Buren, Arkansas
Van Buren ( ) is the second-largest city in the Fort Smith metropolitan area, Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area and the county seat of Crawford County, Arkansas, Crawford County, Arkansas, United States. The city is lo ...
. The cemetery's oldest graves date to 1816, the period of the region's settlement, and include some of Van Buren's first settlers. First established as an informal private burial ground, it was given to the city by John Drennen in 1846.
Confederate Section
In 1861 a section in the eastern portion of the cemetery was set aside for burials related to the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
; this section contains 442 graves of
Confederate Army
The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...
soldiers and eight of
Union Army soldiers.
Most of the Confederate graves are marked "UNKNOWN CONFEDERATE SOLDIER."
Also buried is Confederate Congressman
Hugh French Thomason (1826–1893).
The Confederate portion of the cemetery was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1996 for its association with the war and commemorative organizations, and the entire cemetery was listed in 2005 for its relevance to the history of area.
[
Fairview Cemetery, Confederate Section Plaque.JPG, Plaque identifying Confederate Section
Fairview Cemetery, Confederate Section, Dedication Plaque.JPG, Dedication Plaque
Fairview Cemetery, Confederate Section, one of the identified graves.JPG, Grave Marker for Alber Wilson
Fairview monument for G. Phillips.jpg, Monument for G. Phillips
Confederate_Lot_on_the_NRHP.jpg, Monument identifying NRHP status of Confederate Lot
]
See also
*
References
External links
*
{{National Register of Historic Places
Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas
Buildings and structures completed in 1816
Buildings and structures in Van Buren, Arkansas
1816 establishments in Missouri Territory
National Register of Historic Places in Crawford County, Arkansas
Cemeteries established in the 1810s