Tennessee Historical Commission Historic Cemetery Program: The First Five Years

The fifth anniversary of the Historic Cemetery Program brings an opportunity to reflect upon a program that has grown in a short span of time to compare very favorably with similar programs throughout the nation. Aside from helping thousands of callers and emailers, the inaugural program coordinator Graham Perry has crafted Tennessee’s cemetery map and has now complied more than 27,000 cemeteries with known locations. In total, more than 34,000 known cemeteries are currently recorded in the cemetery database, from which the map is populated. Perry is working daily to obtain GPS pins for the remaining 7,000 that are unaccounted for and is appreciative of the input he has received from the public.

2025 marks the fifth year since the posting of the last Cemetery Report created by the Cemetery Committee. The report proposes recommendations to the legislature for changes to the state’s often unclear cemetery law. The 2025 report will highlight new recommendations based on THC’s experiences with the public. With all hope, some of these will be adopted and will help THC better serve callers regarding a plethora of complicated cemetery issues. Some of the more common problems that have surfaced over the years have been those dealing with family visitation, expectations for landowners and educating local law enforcement about felony desecration. As cemetery law education was not a priority prior to 2019, Perry has delivered important presentations to local groups and governments across the state hoping to bring awareness of the complexity of cemetery issues to the public.

While Tennessee addresses visitation in Walter Hines v. Tennessee (1911) — a precedent cited across the nation — Tennessee is one of only a few states that doesn’t currently have visitation procedures specifically spelled out in its code. Surrounding states (Virginia for example) have that. In those cases, visitation by family members must occur at “reasonable times” and in a “reasonable manner,” and they also convey that a landowner is not liable for accidents during cemetery visitation. In Tennessee, being that the Family Burial Grounds Protection Act (TCA 46-8) declares landowners have a “duty to protect” cemeteries on their properties, communication between the landowner and families is essential to ensure that a cemetery is protected, and that proper visitation is permitted.

There have also been numerous calls regarding cemetery repairs. Although Perry keeps a list of recommended vendors who do this kind of work, the list is uncomfortably short. It has been imperative to train more people to do this kind of work for themselves or even commercially. For this reason, THC has hosted multiple workshops across the state over the years, led by nationally recognized conservator Jon Appell, as well as local vendors. These have been well attended and have resulted in increased expertise among attendees. Perry is always on the lookout for qualified professionals to add to the recommended conservators list. To be added, a recommended professional must use best practices for historic marker repairs, which are more nuanced than typical fixes.

Another major component of the cemetery program has been the new Tennessee Historic Cemetery Register, which invites applicants to submit historic and other information for cemeteries for the purpose of receiving official THC recognition. Successful applicants can then purchase a sign with the THC logo and acknowledgement for the cemetery in order to draw attention to the cemetery’s importance.  There are currently 39 cemeteries listed on the register. For more information about the requirements please contact Graham Perry at graham.perry@tn.gov

Cemeteries Recently added to the Historic Cemetery Register

Madisonville City Cemetery, Monroe County. Listed January 14, 2025.

William Houston Hooper Family Cemetery, Hickman County. Listed February 19, 2025.

Moore Cemetery, Stewart County. Listed May 7, 2025.

Holy Innocents Episcopal Cemetery, Shelby County. Listed May 8, 2025.