Tennessee Historic Cemetery Map and Register: One Year Anniversary

By Graham Perry, Historic Cemetery Preservation Specialist
Herb and Phyllis Handly at the Woods-Handly cemetery with THC Historic Cemetery Register sign.

This past year, the Tennessee Historical Commission released the Tennessee Historic Cemetery Map and Register. In the year of its release, locations of more than 25,500 cemeteries can be viewed on the map itself with info for more than 33,000 known cemeteries currently recorded in the Cemetery database. The map features hundreds more cemetery points, as staff is in the process of pinning every unrecorded cemetery found on USGS maps as well. THC is pleased to offer this research tool to not only historians and genealogist, but to purchasers of property, developers, and government entities needing to research cemetery locations as well.

To date, 31 cemeteries have been listed in the Tennessee Historic Cemetery Register, further expanding our knowledge of Tennessee’s historic cemeteries. One newly listed cemetery is the Woods-Handly cemetery located in Belvedere. Dating back to 1835, there are a total of 32 graves in the cemetery, with 25 burials occurring in the 19th century. Notable burials include Revolutionary War Captain Samuel Handly, who was additionally a member of the Tennessee Constitutional Convention. Descendant, Herb Handly and his wife Phyllis, have worked to clean up the cemetery and have placed a Tennessee Historic Cemetery Register marker on site.

Cemeteries Recently Added to the Tennessee Historic Cemetery Register

  • Castleman Cemetery, Davidson County. Listed February 28, 2024
  •  Old Gibson Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, Gibson County. Listed March 1, 2024.
  • Wear Cemetery, Loudon County. Listed March 1, 2024.
  • Sanders Cemetery, McNairy County. Listed April 5, 2024.
  • McDonald Cemetery, Hamilton County. Listed April 5, 2024.
  • Simmerell Cemetery, White County. Listed April 22, 2024.
  • B.F. Collinsworth, Crockett County. Listed May 7, 2024.
  • Shelton-Haire Cemetery, Greene County. Listed June 7, 2024.
  • Wood Family Cemetery, Hardin County. Listed June 7, 2024
  • Thompson-Collinsworth Cemetery, Davidson County. Listed June 7, 2024.
  • Abram Mason Cemetery, Crockett County. Listed June 24, 2024.
  • Cearley Cemetery, Hardeman County. Listed July 3, 2024.
  • Nelson Cemetery, Lawrence County. Listed July 25, 2024.
  • Copeland-Garrett Cemetery, Overton County. Listed July 31, 2024.
  • Gower Cemetery, Davidson County. Listed August 15, 2024.