Barton Heights Cemeteries are six contiguous, and originally separate, burial grounds in the city of Richmond that appear today as one cemetery. The individual cemeteries, originally known as Phoenix (Cedarwood), Union Burial Ground (Union Mechanics), Methodist, Sycamore, Ebenezer, and Sons and Daughters of Ham, were established between 1815 and 1865. Members of black churches, fraternal orders, and benevolent organizations were plot owners. The cemeteries represent early efforts by African Americans to establish their own cemeteries through burial societies offering death benefits. The black insurance companies established in the late 19th century derived from these early burial societies. Hundreds of markers of various materials and in varying sizes and styles sparsely dot the cemetery, which includes the graves of many of Richmond’s prominent African American citizens—ministers, doctors, barbers, and councilmen. Known today as Cedarwood, the cemeteries are no longer actively in use.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia