Church Street Graveyard is a historic city cemetery located in Mobile, Alabama. The cemetery is situated on 4 acres (1.6 ha) and is surrounded by a brick wall that dates back to 1830.[1] At the time the cemetery was established, it lay about a half-mile away from most development, but it is now considered to be downtown.[1]
History
Church Street Graveyard was founded in 1819, replacing Campo Santo, located at the site of the present Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception as the city's main place of burial.[1] The new cemetery was not officially acquired from local landowner William E. Kennedy by the city of Mobile until a year later, in 1820.[1] Mobile's city officials divided the cemetery into three sections. The northeastern third was designated for Catholics, the southeastern third for Protestants, and the remaining western portion was a "graveyard for strangers". Masons, Odd Fellows, veterans, and the indigent incidentally came to be interred in this western section.[1] The cemetery was closed to burial in 1898, though a few modern burials have taken place by special city resolution.[1]
Notable monuments and interments
Many of the gravestones at Church Street Graveyard are significant examples of stone carving work done in New England and the Gulf Coast in the early 19th century.[2] The cemetery also contains early examples of wrought and cast iron work.[1]
The more notable interments include:
Charles R.S. Boyington, convicted of the murder of Nathaniel Frost. Reportedly buried beneath the Boyington Oak just outside the graveyard walls.[3][4]
