Colonial Park Cemetery

Colonial Park Cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries in the state of Georgia. It was established in 1750, when the city of Savannah was the capital of the British Province of Georgia, the last of the thirteen colonies. It was originally a burial ground for the Christ Church Parish. The Christ Church was the first church established in the Province of Georgia in 1733, and is often called the “Mother Church” by its Episcopal descendants. In 1789, however; the cemetery became a public burial place for all denominations. 

The cemetery was active for 103 years before being closed to burials in 1859, just eight years before the American Civil War. It was during the Civil War that Union General Sherman’s men camped there during his march to the sea. Records maintained that there were “several hundred men” encamped in the cemetery, where they used the headstones of the dead to sharpen their bayonets. The marks from their blades can still be seen deeply etched into the headstones today, blocking out names of the deceased as well as dates. The soldiers also used the family crypts in the cemetery as sleeping quarters, shoving ol bones off the shelves inside to make way for their bedrolls and supplies.

Just 43 years after the cemetery was closed for burials, it was established as a public park. The park is maintained even today by the Daughters of the American Revolution, an organization membered by direct descendants of those involved in America’s fight for independence. Today, the cemetery is still used as a public park. The beautiful, pristine pathways wind around the old grave markers weathered by Savannah’s long history. Today, one can count 516 headstones on the six-acre plot of land, though there were originally over 9,000 burials recorded in the cemetery. 700 of these burials were the desolate victims of Savannah’s Yellow Fever outbreak. They were buried via a mass grave on the eastern side of the cemetery, where there is a memorial immortalizing those who lost their lives to the horrible epidemic.

There are also many famous and notorious historical figures buried within the cemetery grounds, including Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence; and Lachlan McIntosh, a Major General in the Continental Army.