Information
Landmark: Linwood CemeteryCity: Columbus City
Country: USA Georgia
Continent: North America
Linwood Cemetery, Columbus City, USA Georgia, North America
Overview
At 721 Linwood Boulevard in Columbus, Georgia, Linwood Cemetery stands as one of the city’s oldest burial grounds, its weathered headstones marking a place rich with history.Founded in 1828, Columbus’s first public cemetery still stands, its weathered headstones telling the story of the region’s social, political, and military past.Known to many as the Old City Cemetery, Linwood holds nearly two centuries of local history in its weathered headstones and the quiet stories of those laid to rest beneath them.Linwood Cemetery’s story begins in the earliest days of Columbus, when its first plots were marked under the shade of young oak trees.In 1828, Edward Lloyd Thomas-the surveyor who mapped the city-laid his young son to rest here, on a quiet patch of earth.This grave is believed to be the very first in what later grew into the city’s main public cemetery, where rows of weathered stones now stand.For years afterward, people simply called it the Old City Cemetery, a name that spoke to its place as the town’s main burial ground where wind rattled through leaning headstones.In 1894, the cemetery took on its new name, “Linwood,” probably borrowed from Ernest Linwood, the well-loved novel by local author Caroline Lee Hentz.They renamed it as part of a larger push to formalize and beautify the cemetery, echoing the 19th‑century rural cemetery movement, where winding paths, trimmed lawns, and towering stone monuments set a park‑like scene.Linwood Cemetery stretches across a wide expanse, shaded by old oaks, threaded with winding paths, and dotted with headstones and stone mausoleums.The grounds mix crisp, symmetrical paths with softer, meandering ones, echoing the style of 19th- and early-20th-century cemeteries.Oak, magnolia, and pine trees stretch overhead, casting cool shade and lending a quiet calm to visitors strolling beneath their branches.In the cemetery, you’ll find everything from small, weathered headstones to towering Victorian monuments carved from cool marble, sturdy granite, and other stone.In Columbus, the mausoleums and family vaults mark where the city’s most prominent families rest, their stone walls carved with angels, drooping willows, and urns in intricate detail.Linwood Cemetery holds the graves of many influential figures who shaped Columbus, Georgia, and far beyond, including Dr.John Stith Pemberton (1831–1888), the pharmacist who crafted the first Coca-Cola recipe in his small, fragrant lab.Pemberton eventually left for Atlanta, where he died, but his first resting place in Linwood Cemetery keeps his story rooted in Columbus-quiet beneath the shade of old magnolia trees.General Henry Lewis Benning (1814–1875) served as a Confederate commander in the Civil War, and his name lives on at Fort Benning, a sprawling U. S. Army base just outside Columbus where tanks rumble over dusty training fields.Noble Leslie DeVotie (1838–1861) founded Sigma Alpha Epsilon, a fraternity that’s become a lasting part of American college life, from crowded fall rush events to decades-old campus traditions.Paul Jones Semmes (1815–1863) was a Confederate brigadier general who died from wounds at Gettysburg, his story woven into the cemetery’s Civil War past like weathered stone among the graves.Mark Harden Blandford (1826–1902) served as a Confederate congressman and later sat as an associate justice on Georgia’s Supreme Court, a reminder of the political weight carried by some buried here.Absalom Harris Chappell, Thomas Wingfield Grimes, Hines Holt, and James Abercrombie-each a prominent U. S. Representative or state official-lie here, their graves marking the cemetery as a quiet sanctuary for the region’s past leaders.Beyond its notable figures, Linwood holds more than 200 graves of Confederate soldiers from every Confederate state, a quiet hillside that helps tell the military and social story of the American South during and after the Civil War.Over the years, Linwood Cemetery has weathered the same troubles many historic graveyards face-neglect, vandalism, and thick weeds creeping between worn headstones.In 1997, seeing its value as a cultural and historical landmark, the Historic Linwood Foundation came together to lead preservation and restoration-saving the worn brick walls and faded woodwork for future generations.The foundation partners with local residents to keep the grounds tidy, repair cracked or weatherworn monuments, and record the cemetery’s history.They run educational programs, lead guided tours, and host lively community events, all aimed at helping people understand why Linwood matters.Thanks to their steady work, the cemetery remains a quiet place of respect, rich with heritage and space for reflection, where even the scent of old lilacs lingers in the air.Linwood Cemetery welcomes visitors every day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and you can wander its quiet paths without paying a cent.Less than a mile from downtown Columbus, it’s easy to reach-whether you’re a local, a visitor, or someone tracing family roots and uncovering the city’s history.You’re welcome to wander the grounds on your own, pausing at weathered markers and taking in the quiet sweep of the landscape, or book a guided tour through the Historic Linwood Foundation for richer stories about those buried here and the cemetery’s place in history.If you’re digging into family history or local lore, Linwood Cemetery’s burial records are thoroughly documented and easy to find.On Interment.net, you can search thousands of entries-names etched in stone, some dating back over a century.FamilySearch holds a vast collection of burial records, some dating back more than a hundred years, from quiet hillside cemeteries to city graveyards.The Muscogee Genealogy project provides detailed indexes and scanned burial cards, helping researchers trace family lines and spot demographic trends-like noting a cluster of 1912 dates on weathered stone markers.Linwood Cemetery in Columbus, Georgia, has guarded almost two centuries of local history, its quiet paths lined with weathered headstones that tell the town’s story.The cemetery began as a humble burial ground laid out by the city’s surveyor, and over time it became the resting place of inventors, generals, and statesmen, its moss-covered stones tracing the city’s cultural journey.With its mix of striking monuments, quiet green lawns, and careful preservation, Linwood offers a place to honor the past and a rich source for history lessons and family research.Linwood Cemetery, shaped by devoted community efforts, keeps Columbus’s history alive and offers a quiet spot where the wind moves gently through the old oak trees.
