{"nrhp_refnum":"71001044","name":"Monroe, James, Tomb","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Hollywood Cemetery, 412 S. Cherry St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Richmond (Independent City)","county":"Richmond (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.53377304000003,"lon":-77.45650876199994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-11-11","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1971-11-11","areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A cast iron Gothic Revival tomb enclosing the granite sarcophagus of President James Monroe, set on a bluff above the James River in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia. It was erected in 1859.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the tomb matters for its material rather than its style or architect. The open Gothic tracery could be achieved in cast iron for an outdoor tomb in a way not possible at this scale in stone. It is called a small-scale masterpiece of cast iron architecture, though it did not have the far-reaching influence of works like the U.S. Capitol dome.","narrative":"Overlooking the James River from a bluff in Hollywood Cemetery, this roughly 13-by-9-foot cast iron cage shelters the granite sarcophagus of James Monroe, fifth President of the United States. Erected in 1859 and designed by Alsatian-born architect Albert Lybrock, it was cast in Philadelphia by Wood and Perot at a cost of $1,682. Its flamboyant Gothic Revival design uses lancet-arched screens on all four sides, corner colonettes topped by small tabernacles, rose-window tracery and an open ogival canopy. Monroe died in New York in 1831 and was reburied in Virginia in 1856-1858 after the state voted funds for his return. The tomb is recognized chiefly for its material: iron allowed delicate open tracery outdoors at a scale stone could not match. Though a small-scale masterpiece of cast iron architecture, it did not influence later design as widely as larger iron works such as the Capitol dome. A low stone wall circles the tomb.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":"Albert Lybrock (architect); cast by Wood and Perot of Philadelphia","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is listed as good, and the structure is unaltered and on its original site.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.777664-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/27/6791/41679127/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/71001044_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71001044/b05111450b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71001044/b05111450b-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Remember","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Monroe_Grave.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Remember</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Monroe_Grave.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"69000350","name":"Hollywood Cemetery","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/hollywood-cemetery-69000350/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679127","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Monroe_Tomb","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6139920"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/richmond/monroe-james-tomb-71001044/"}