Oak Hill Cemetery, located just north of downtown, is

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

's oldest

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

. Originally on the estate of James M. Ware, it was already a burial ground by April 1869 when it served as the resting place for the infant daughter of future mayor Robert H. Henley. It was marked as "City Cemetery" on the original plats for Birmingham laid out by the Elyton Land Company and was formally sold to the city on December 29, 1873 for the sum of $1,073.50. Most of the 10,000 or so burials at Oak Hill were interred before 1930, including nine of the ten landholders who founded the city, many early mayors, a

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soldier, numerous

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veterans, and the first male child born in the city. Although few records exist from the time, most believe the "

Potter's Field A potter's field, paupers' grave or common grave is a place for the burial of unknown, unclaimed or indigent people. "Potter's field" is of Biblical origin, referring to Akeldama (meaning ''field of blood'' in Aramaic), stated to have been pur ...

" section was also used as the final resting place for many victims of the 1873

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

epidemic. In 1889 Judge A. O. Lane purchased on the southern slopes of Red Mountain (Birmingham, Alabama), now Lane Park, for the burial of paupers, thereby ending the use of Oak Hill's "Potter's Field". In 1928 the caretaker's cottage near the center of the property, was removed to the southwest corner of the cemetery and a new "Pioneer's Memorial Building" was constructed of Indiana limestone, designed by Miller & Martin architects with William Kessler, landscape architect. ''See also:'' In 1977, Oak Hill Cemetery was added to 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 ...

. The Oak Hill Memorial Association keeps an office in the former caretaker's cottage and published a quarterly newsletter, the ''Oak Hill Pioneer'', from Winter 1999 to Fall 2006, with articles about the history of the city in the context of the lives of those buried at Oak Hill.

Notable burials

* Rucker Agee (1897–1985), banker and map collector * Henry M. Caldwell, president of Elyton Land Company, owner of Peanut Depot building * William E. B. Davis, pioneer gynecologist * Henry F. DeBardeleben (1840-1910), industrialist and developed Bessemer * Ellen Pratt DeBardeleben (1844–1894), daughter of Daniel Pratt * Frank M. Dixon, Governor of Alabama * Robert Henley, First mayor of Birmingham * Walter Henley, coal baron, banker, philanthropist * Mary T. Jeffries (1863-1930), President, Alabama

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...

* Mortimer Jordan, health care pioneer * Charles Linn, industrialist and financier * W. J. McDonald, acting mayor of Robert Henley * John T. Milner (1826–1898), railroad engineer, pioneer * William S. Mudd (1816–1884), builder of Arlington Antebellum Home & Gardens * Frank P. O'Brien, manufacturer, mayor, industrialist, developer and opera-house owner * Arthur H. Parker (1870–1939), educator, namesake of A. H. Parker High School * Edmund Rucker, Confederate Army

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Fred Shuttlesworth Freddie Lee Shuttlesworth (born Freddie Lee Robinson, March 18, 1922 – October 5, 2011) was an American Baptist minister and civil rights activist who led fights against segregation and other forms of racism, during the civil rights movement. ...

(1922–2011), civil rights leader * James Sloss, railroad magnate, founder of Sloss Furnaces * William Hugh Smith, Governor of Alabama 1868–1870 * John William Tayloe (1831–1904), Confederate Army

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Jeff Davis Legion of Hampton's Division, Stuart's Cavalry, Army of Northern Virginia. Born Buena Vista Plantation son of George Plater Tayloe, grandson of John Tayloe III of

The Octagon House The Octagon House, also known as the Colonel John Tayloe III House, is a house located at 1799 New York Avenue, Northwest in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was built in 1799 for John Tayloe III, the wealthiest planter in ...

, great grandson of John Tayloe II of Mount Airy. Architect of Hawthorne * Louise Wooster, famed Madam * F. B. Yielding (1864–1948), founder of Yielding department store chain

References

* Jeane, Gregory.
A Brief History of Oak Hill Cemetery
. – accessed April 1, 2006

External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Cemeteries in Birmingham, Alabama Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama National Register of Historic Places in Birmingham, Alabama Properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage Tudor Revival architecture in Alabama Cemeteries established in the 1860s