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Former Pauper Cemetery Restored By Local Group
Greenwood Cemetery in Buena Vista will be dedicated Monday, May 20 – nearly 135 years after its founding and 75 years after the last burial was conducted there.
Located on East First Street, Greenwood Cemetery was established in 1890 by the city of Buena Vista as a pauper cemetery serving white, African American and Native American residents. In the years since the last burial was conducted there in the 1940s, it had become an overgrown wooded area near Enderly Heights Elementary School that many people did not realize was a cemetery.
“These are the people who built Buena Vista, who worked in its factories and in businesses, and in its homes, and who are deserving of our respect,” said Jake Shewey, chairman of the Friends of Greenwood Cemetery, a nonprofit organization that has taken on the task of cleaning and renewing the cemetery.
THE ENTRANCE to Greenwood Cemetery off of East First Street now has a sign, wooden gate and a story board that tells some of the cemetery’s history. The restored cemetery will be dedicated this Monday.
The Friends of Greenwood Cemetery grew out of an informal group that has worked silently in the cemetery for about 10 years. In 2022, the group established itself as an organization and entered into a memorandum of understanding with the city, formalizing its role.
The land on which the cemetery is located passed out of the ownership of the city inn 1916, but was restored to the city in 2022 when the late Steve Douty deeded the land back to the city. With the city’s involvement, the Friends of Greenwood was able to quickly make headway on cleaning up the cemetery.
The Friends raised money from community groups, individuals and the city, and received many donations of materials and labor. Students from Southern Virginia University and Washington and Lee University provided labor, as did a number of businesses, and even inmates from Rockbridge Regional Jail.
“This has been truly a community effort,” Shewey said.
That effort will be celebrated with a ceremony at 11 a.m. on Monday at the cemetery’s entrance off of East First Street. Speaking at the ceremony will be representatives of the city, of the Friends, of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and the Rockbridge Community Foundation. A rain date has been set for May 22.
