{"nrhp_refnum":"10000382","name":"Daughters of Zion Cemetery","other_names":["Zion Cemetery","Society Cemetery"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Corner of First and Oak Sts","address_restricted":false,"city":"Charlottesville","county":"Albemarle County","state":"VA","lat":38.02909417200004,"lon":-78.48417807499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-06-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Black"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small urban African-American cemetery of about two acres at the corner of First and Oak Streets in southeastern Charlottesville, Virginia, established in 1873 and located beside the municipal Oakwood Cemetery.","why_significant":"The cemetery was privately established by and for African Americans in response to the segregation of Charlottesville's public Oakwood Cemetery. It marks the growing autonomy and organization of the city's Black community after Reconstruction. Its family groupings and inscriptions record family life, religious belief, and fraternal and sororal societies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.","narrative":"Daughters of Zion Cemetery occupies a gently sloping two-acre hilltop at First and Oak Streets in southeastern Charlottesville. Founded in 1873, it was created privately by and for African Americans in response to the segregated layout of the neighboring Oakwood Cemetery. About 300 graves are estimated, with 152 burials commemorated by surviving marble and granite markers dating from 1873 to 1995. Many stones carry floral or vine motifs, and a few inscriptions name fraternal and sororal groups such as Williams Lodge No. 11 and Queen Esther Temple No. 7. Graves cluster in family plots, including the Allen, Tonsler, Lewis, Coles and Goodloe families, and one plot is enclosed by a cast iron fence. The cemetery was listed for its role in the development of Charlottesville's African-American community after Reconstruction, showing the group's growing independence and preserving a record of family life, faith and social organizations. Burials have ceased, but the grounds remain maintained.","period_of_significance":"1873-ca.1933","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A"],"status_note":"No burials since 1995; the cemetery continues to be maintained and flowers adorn several graves. Some headstones have fallen or been vandalized, but most remain intact.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.768108-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/5/6794/41679405/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/10000382.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000382/f454c99d57-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000382/f454c99d57-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Daughters_of_Zion_Cemetery_from_south.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Daughters_of_Zion_Cemetery_from_south.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"82004904","name":"Charlottesville and Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/charlottesville-and-albemarle-county-courthouse-historic-district-82004904/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679405","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daughters_of_Zion_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15213122"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/albemarle-county/daughters-of-zion-cemetery-10000382/"}