Birmingham / Alabama / United States
Oak Hill Cemetery was originally part of the landholdings of James M. Ware and was being used as a burial ground before it was sold to the new city of Birmingham. Designated in early 1871 as the City Cemetery on the first plats of Elyton Land Company, it was located on the edge of the citys limits and was thought by many to be too far out to be accessible. However, the city accepted the proposed site for its new burial ground and on December 29, 1873, the city paid $1, 073.50 and received a deed for the official transfer of 21.5 acres of land. It is estimated that the cemetery has over 10, 000 burials, most prior to 1930. Burials still occur in the cemetery, though on an infrequent basis. Because of its powerful association with the families that founded Birmingham, Oak Hill Cemetery is not only important for its burials, but for its records that provide important information about the founding families. Although the city did not formally receive title to the cemetery until 1873, burials had been made prior to that time. The first interment was in April, 1869, when Evaline A. Henley, infant daughter of Birminghams first mayor, Robert Henley, was laid to rest. The first burial in Potters Field is listed in the cemeterys records as Adalimer King, buried in January, 1870. Although few burials are recorded in 1873, it is confirmed that many, if not most, of the cholera victims of the 1873 epidemic were buried there as well. The last burials were made in Potters Field in 1889, the same year Judge Alexander O. Lane purchased around 200 acres on the southern slope of Red Mountain for the express purpose of burying the citys paupers. Burial of paupers in that location ceased in 1909. In 1929 the land was renamed Lane Park in the owners honor; it is rumored today that Birmingham Zoo is situated on portions of Lanes pauper burial ground. Birmingham came into existence through the creation of Elyton Land Company, and of the ten original owners whose land made up the city, nine are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery: William F. Nabers, William S. Mudd, Sylvester Steele, Thomas Peters, Robert N. Green, Alburto Martin, James M. Ware, William A. Walker, Sr., and Benjamin P. Worthington. Several mayors, including the citys first, are buried here, as is Richard P. McNally, the first male child born in Birmingham in November 1871. Veterans of the Civil War are numerous, and one veteran of the American Revolution, John Burford, Sr., rests here as well. Prominent citizens too numerous to mention have made Oak Hill their final resting place.
