Nashville City Cemetery (2013)

Opened in 1822, the City Cemetery is the oldest continuously operated public cemetery in Nashville. A walk through the cemetery is truly a walk through Nashville's history. The gravestones tell the stories of individuals and families from the 1820s to the present day.In response to the disrepair, vandalism, and neglect over many decades, former Mayor Bill Purcell and the Metro Council approved the Mayor's Capital Budget request for a $3M project to restore, which was completed in 2010. Many exciting and noticeable improvements have been made including paved walkways, street lights, named "streets" and new signage, working restrooms, informational kiosks throughout cemetery, dog waste stations, clearly marked rules, history markers, repair, restoration, and preservation of tombstones, markers, and other memorials. The cemetery has not become a tourist and local destination as well as a beautiful place to walk or visit regularly. There are also "living history" events held there during the year. The cemetery is maintained through a partnership between the Metro Historical Council and Nashville City Cemetery Association (a private, non-profit group). In the pictures below see our class TA (Maddie Shankle, Class of 2012) teach a lesson about prominent citizens buried in the cemetery. We also happen to see Miss Patty's sister, Jane Deloney, who was there changing the holiday greenery of her great-grandfather's final resting place. Finally, the class appreciated seeing the grave marker of one of the original, and most famous, of all the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Ella Sheppard Moore. She was as popular in the late 1800s as Jennifer Hudson (minus social media) today!