Elmwood Cemetery
National Register Listing
Street Address:
501 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, SC (Richland County)
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817740111
Description and Narrative:
Elmwood Cemetery is a 168.46-acre cemetery in Columbia established in 1854. Elmwood Cemetery is a good representation of the principles of the aesthetic traditions of both the rural and lawn-park cemetery movements in its plan, landscaping and gravemarkers. Gravemarkers are varied, including flush stones, tablets, headstones, mausoleums, ledgers, and obelisks. The “old cemetery” or southern section of Elmwood Cemetery is an example of a “rural cemetery.” The intent was to create a picturesque landscape. Elmwood soon became the fashionable place for Columbians to be buried. By 1921 the cemetery had become overgrown, and seemed out of step with current burial customs. The trustees of Elmwood Cemetery recommended the opening of a “new cemetery” or “lawn-park cemetery” section. The old section is visually distinct from the newer northern section. The former is more heavily wooded and with larger gravemarkers. It also includes an area devoted to Confederate dead, taking on the appearance of a military cemetery. Elmwood Cemetery is a designed landscape. Cultural features include a drive, fencing, buildings, a rostrum, a wrought iron archway, and markers. Listed in the National Register September 6, 1996.
Period of Significance:
1921;1854
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Landscape Architecture
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
September 6 1996
