Colonial Park Cemetery
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Closed to burials in 1853
| Colonial Park Cemetery | |
|---|---|
 Inside the cemetery, looking west toward its boundary with Abercorn Street | |
 Interactive map of Colonial Park Cemetery | |
| Details | |
| Established | 1750 Closed to burials in 1853 |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 32°04′31″N 81°05′24″W / 32.07528°N 81.09000°W |
| Type | Public municipal |
| Owned by | City of Savannah |
| Size | 6 acres (2.4 ha) |
| No. of graves | est. 9,000 |
| Find a Grave | Colonial Park Cemetery |
Colonial Park Cemetery (locally and informally known as Colonial Cemetery; historically known as the Old Cemetery)[1] is an 18th- and early 19th-century burial ground located in downtown Savannah, Georgia. It became a city park in 1896,[2] 43 years after burials in the cemetery ceased,[3] and is open to visitors.
The cemetery was established in 1750, when Savannah was the capital of the British Province of Georgia, last of the Thirteen Colonies. By 1789 it had expanded three times to reach its current six acres bounded by East Oglethorpe Avenue (to the north), Habersham Street (east), East Perry Lane (south) and Abercorn Street (west). Savannah's primary public cemetery throughout its 103 active years, its previous names have included the Old Cemetery, Old Brick Graveyard, South Broad Street Cemetery, and Christ Church Cemetery.
Originally built as the burial ground for Christ Church Parish, the city's Church of England congregation, in 1789 it became a cemetery for Savannahians of all denominations.[2]
The Gaston Tomb was built in Colonial Park Cemetery in 1844, but was moved to Bonaventure Cemetery in 1873.[4]
The cemetery was closed to burials in 1853,[1] some eight years before the start of the American Civil War, so no Confederate soldiers are interred there. After Union troops occupied Savannah on December 24, 1864, the graveyard became a temporary home to "several hundred" Union soldiers.[5] Soldiers allegedly damaged or defaced some of the stone markers (including altering some dates and ages) and sheltered inside vaults,[5] including the Gaston Tomb.[4]
