{"nrhp_refnum":"79002709","name":"Columbia Baptist Cemetery","other_names":["Memorial Baptist Cemetery"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Northside of Wilmer Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cincinnati","county":"Hamilton County","state":"OH","lat":39.106255462000036,"lon":-84.42911829799993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-08-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A pioneer cemetery on a small knoll above the Little Miami flood plain on the north side of Wilmer Road in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, with graves dating from 1797 through 1890.","why_significant":"The cemetery holds the graves of some of the first settlers in Hamilton County and the Miami Purchase, including Major Benjamin Stites, who settled Columbia in 1788. It occupies the site of the Columbia Baptist Church, the first Protestant congregation in the Northwest Territory, and of an earlier Woodland Indian village.","narrative":"Columbia Baptist Cemetery, also called Memorial Pioneer Cemetery, sits on a small knoll above the Little Miami flood plain in Cincinnati, across from Lunken Airport. It holds the graves of 117 identified individuals dated 1797 through 1890, including five Revolutionary War soldiers and nine Civil War soldiers. Among those buried are Major Benjamin Stites, who founded the settlement of Columbia in 1788, and Aaron Mercer and Ichabod Miller, who platted Mercersburg (Newtown). The ground was once a Woodland Indian village and later the location of Columbia Baptist Church, founded in 1790 and built in 1792, the first Protestant congregation in the Northwest Territory. A fluted Corinthian column taken from the Cincinnati Post Office Building was erected in 1889 to mark the Baptist pioneers and the centennial of Columbia. The Cincinnati Park Board has maintained the grounds since 1964, and the site is open to the public as a cemetery and park.","period_of_significance":"c. 1790-1890","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition and used as a cemetery and park; the Cincinnati Park Board has maintained it since 1964. Tombstones are generally in good repair, though some have been cemented or glued.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.693837-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/79002709.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002709/620b61ab08-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002709/620b61ab08-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.5","author":null,"credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PioneerCemet014.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown author</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.5</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PioneerCemet014.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71985492","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Memorial_Cemetery,_Cincinnati","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7196726"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/hamilton-county/columbia-baptist-cemetery-79002709/"}