Jackson is a lovely and interesting city, with important history to the state of Tennessee. What began as the village of Alexandria would become the City of Jackson in 1822, a wealthy city built on cotton, and a transportation hub with railroad connections to link the mid-South to New Orleans, the Midwest and the North. The people who created this city are reflected in the three historic cemeteries I visited. It is a tale of the Founders of Jackson, buried in Riverside Cemetery; the Builders of Jackson, buried in Hollywood Cemetery; and the Workers of Jackson, buried in the African American cemetery called Mount Olivet. Three different societies, all interconnected and integral to each other, and with different approaches to their cemeteries thanks to their levels in society.
Both Hollywood and Riverside are two of the oldest cemeteries in Tennessee and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee. In addition, Mount Olivet Cemetery, the African American cemetery opened after Jim Crow, is eligible for this status and is just as important in its own way, acknowledging the challenges of Race and Reconstruction. All in all, a very interesting day trip for those who like a wholistic look at the history of our state and it’s funerary art. Let’s begin with the Founders of Jackson, then moving on to the Builders, and finally the Workers! Perhaps this is an oversimplification, but I find this is a great way to consider the differences and history of each cemetery.
Riverside Cemetery
400 Riverside Drive, Jackson 38301
The cemetery is located just a few blocks south of the Madison County courthouse, past US Hwy 45. It is flanked by Riverside Drive to the west, and Sycamore Street to the north.
According to this site, the village of Alexandria was designated as the county seat of Madison County and renamed Jackson in 1822. A small chestnut grove worked well at first as a cemetery; however, in 1824, the City of Jackson decided that its graveyard would soon be filled, and a replacement was found on the southwest edge of town and named Riverside. (A column that has the date 1830 on a plaque at the entrance is an estimate of when it was created.) Soon, many of the remains from the original cemetery were re-interred in the new space, and the earliest known marker is dated 1824. Over time, acres were added to the site to accommodate the growing city, and it became part of the park movement of cemeteries. Many trees and other improvements were made to make it a more pastoral setting in 1878 and 1879.
My first thoughts when entering the graveyard were disbelief at the size of the monuments. Some of the massive headstones weigh tons, and I struggled to comprehend how they were set in place! I admit I also felt like these headstones weren’t just physically heavy. Being here almost felt like in-your-face statements of who these people were and the role they played in founding the city. By God, they wanted to be remembered! And the general feeling of the cemetery to me was dense, joyless, and perhaps sadness that this place and people seemed lost to time. But there really are some great monuments to see there that reflect the opulence of the gentry, and also perhaps their high regard for their status.
As one of Tennessee’s oldest graveyards, it is perhaps not surprising that approximately 3,000 markers are missing of the estimated 4,000 occupants. These include around 100 Confederate soldiers who died during the Civil War, as well as slaves who died prior to 1865. This is most likely the field I saw at the far side of the cemetery, which appeared mostly empty, and is flanked by small upright posts and simple wooden crosses.
There are three famous people buried in Riverside: Milton Brown, a US Congressman, Civil War Confederate Brigadier General Alexander Campbell, and US Congressman William Haskell who served in the Seminole and Mexican -American Wars and practiced law until his death from mental illness (!). One of the most interesting monuments here to me was to someone named Jones who was a high-ranking Mason at one time in the Order of High Priesthood. The tall structure is made to look like it holds a library of books – no doubt esoteric material related to his studies and rank! The other was a brick grave house which I believe belongs to Fanny Connally who died in 1845 and is the daughter of one of the towns earliest settlers. There is a slab in front of the structure, and the brick cylinder of sorts has held up remarkably well.
When the privately owned Hollywood Cemetery was created it became the primary burial ground in Jackson, but the old families of Jackson still buried their loved ones here in Riverside. By 1976 it was acknowledged by the city that the older generations were nearly gone, and a trust fund was set up to maintain the cemetery as a major historic landmark.
I have heard people call this place haunted; if so, its surely for the awkward mix of gentile Southern nobility, Civil War history, racial divide, and forgotten dead, all housed together for eternity. Perhaps this is why this sacred ground seems mysterious and heavily charged to me: it houses the unknown, the unacknowledged, the lost to time, as well as the honored. This is not a cemetery that’s easy to forget. It was placed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
Hollywood Cemetery
406 Hollywood Dr., Jackson, TN 38301
(731) 422-4316
Open 24 hrs
Chief burial ground for the city’s wealthy and upper class, Hollywood Cemetery was founded in 1886. It was placed in the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee due to its lovely landscaped grounds and the artistic value of its grave markers and sepulchral sculptures. A fine example of the “rural” cemetery movement of the Victorian era, Hollywood is the Queen of the Cemeteries in Jackson, with splendid examples of Gilded Age tombstones and a designed landscape. In fact, an advertisement in the West Tennessee Whig in 1887 predicted that Hollywood “will be one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the South when completed.” Judge for yourself, as you enjoy the beautiful pastoral setting and massive specimen trees. When I visited there were quite a few workers mowing, trimming trees and keeping the cemetery’s setting pristine. Clearly, a well-loved and cared for cemetery. Of the three cemeteries I visited in Jackson, this one was my favorite. It felt peaceful, loved, and told a great story of the society who built a city into the successful, thriving community that it is.
The gravestones range from traditional markers and Victorian themes of nature and children to Art Deco sculptures, obelisks and draped urns. In addition to religious symbolism, you’ll find signs of fraternal orders throughout, especially the Masons and the Woodsmen of the World. There are also veterans buried here from the Confederate, Spanish American, WWI and WWII wars. Because of all the wonderful styles and symbols, a guide to cemetery iconography is suggested for your trip there.
There are a number of standout monuments for you to look for:
The “Weeping Woman,” a local favorite and a beautiful sculpture.
A monument to those who died in World War I.
The Jobe family plot, with its lovely, rounded columnal structure, great for pictures.
The striking Warmack-Ezzell crypt with a pretty stained-glass window.
As to famous graves, there are two US Congressmen buried here: Thomas Jefferson Murray and Herron Carney Pearson, as well as numerous business and professional leaders of Jackson. Interestingly, the grandparents of socialite and millionaire Sunny Von Bulow are housed in the Warmack-Ezzell crypt. You may remember the tragic story of her scandalous (alleged) attempted murder by her husband from the book and movie “Reversal of Fortune” starring Jeremy Irons!
The website for the cemetery shows it to be well documented, celebrated and cared for by the Jackson community, and it is highly recommended to visit the site prior to your exploration. You can't help but notice how well loved this cemetery is, and it's evident from the energy around the people visiting and working there and the great state of the monuments. In addition, there is a Facebook group, “Families of Hollywood Cemetery – Jackson, TN,” where the historian Ricky Long and families of those interred post pictures and share stories about the history of the graveyard. Its lovely to see the such community around a cemetery! Special thanks to Mr. Long for guiding and advising me while I was visiting!
The B’Nai Israel Jewish cemetery is adjacent at 696 Hollywood Drive. It should probably be included in this list, as it is an early Jewish cemetery in Tennessee history. Many influential people who built Jackson are interred here as well!
Mount Olivet Cemetery
300 East Forest Avenue, Jackson
Halfway between Highland Avenue (2 blocks to the west) and North Royal Street (3 blocks to the east), and approximately 1 ½ miles north of the Madison County Courthouse.
A lovely, wooded cemetery in the midst of a working-class neighborhood, with many old trees such as large magnolias and cedar, elm, maple and sycamore, this African American cemetery is the counterpart to Riverside Cemetery’s monument-heavy burial grounds. It’s a humble mix of modest obelisks, small to medium sized monuments and headstones, the old stones mixed in with the new. But its power comes from its history and what it represents.
According to TNGenWeb, this cemetery was established in 1885 when the black citizenry of the town were told Riverside’s space "was at a premium,” AKA Jim Crow laws, and land was found on West Forest Avenue to establish a cemetery just for African Americans. (Blacks who already owned lots in Riverside were allowed to be buried there, however.) The majority of the grave markers in Mount Olivet are from 1885 to 1951, and there are approximately 1,600 marked graves, but around 1,000 unmarked graves - not uncommon in historic black cemeteries.
Interestingly, this cemetery is placed in and around where Union troops commanded the city of Jackson in 1883, and where the newly emancipated black community flocked to, hoping for work with the liberators. This cemetery is home to prominent as well as lesser-known African Americans from Madison County’s community and is truly a tale of how blacks emerged from slavery to build institutions, careers, community and religious centers successfully despite formidable hurdles.
Here is a powerful mix of small obelisks and headstones with symbolic motifs, especially religious ones, but also very simple concrete markers which are often the most moving. For those interested in the history of Black Masons, there are headstones with Masonic and Eastern Star symbology, as well as markers of other fraternal organizations. There are veterans of the US Colored Troops interred here, including Union and Confederate soldiers, and veterans of other wars, noted by military markers. I came across a number of military headstones that were lined up to replace ground markers for soldiers who had fought in WW1 and WW2, something I was glad to see.
But there are other, more unusual graves to look for here. I had read that there are small individual stones set on edge in mortar which resemble stones for walls. These are folk art markers by Shellis Lane (1888-1974), which are red colored concrete with a plain concrete border and hand lettering, sitting on top of the concrete borders of family plots – a unique aspect of this cemetery. Frankly, I had a hard time finding them and could not find pictures on the internet. Perhaps you can find them!
Mount Olivet is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places for its association with the development of African-American institutions in the late Reconstruction through Jim Crow period, and for its association with people of achievement within the black community who serve as sources of ethnic pride and identity. (TNGenWeb)
I hope you’ll make a day trip to Jackson to visit these cemeteries and perhaps the Jewish cemetery as well! It’s a fascinating story told through the monuments and graveyards of the Founders, whose grit and determination established a city; the Builders whose lofty vision created a thriving business and arts center in Western Tennessee; and the workers whose blood, sweat and tears made the vision come true. All in all, a great way to spend a day for us graveyard tourists in a beautiful historic city!
I would be remiss not to point out that Jackson and its nearby areas have contributed a HUGE amount of musical talent, and you can celebrate the legacies of Carl Perkins, Tina Turner, Sonny Boy Williamson, Wanda Jackson and more at the Carnegie Legends of Tennessee Music Museum which has the largest collections of Americana music memorabilia in the world, and the International Rock-A-Billy Hall of Fame. Be sure to check them out while you’re there!
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