East Hill Cemetery, established in 1857, straddles the border between Tennessee and Virginia in the city of Bristol. Originally known as City Cemetery and closely associated with the city’s early history, the cemetery contains the graves of Bristol’s founders, enslaved African Americans, more than 179 Civil War soldiers (including those who died during the war as well as its veterans), Revolutionary War hero Gen. Evan Shelby, and many other people who made contributions to Bristol and the nation. Although still in use at the time of its listing in the registers, the East Hill Cemetery was eighty percent occupied before 1961, with more than eighteen percent of burials occurring before 1900.
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