{"nrhp_refnum":"80004226","name":"Aspenvale Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Off U.S. 11","address_restricted":false,"city":"Seven Mile Ford","county":"Smyth County","state":"VA","lat":36.81467796600003,"lon":-81.64001481299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-12-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Aspenvale Cemetery is a roughly one-acre family and community burial ground on a steep hillside overlooking Seven Mile Ford, Smyth County, Virginia. It includes a walled Preston and Campbell family plot, with other graves outside the wall.","why_significant":"The cemetery holds the grave of General William Campbell, commander of Virginia militia at the Revolutionary War battle of King's Mountain on October 7, 1780. The form calls it the only known tangible reminder in Virginia of his contribution to American success in the war. Reviewer notes accept it under the exception for cemeteries, citing Campbell's statewide importance.","narrative":"Aspenvale Cemetery occupies a steep hillside above Seven Mile Ford in Smyth County, Virginia. It is named for Aspenvale, the Campbell family home that once stood nearby. The most significant section is enclosed by a shaped limestone wall, which tradition says slave labor built, and holds 46 graves of the Preston and Campbell families. Graves of Confederate soldiers, slaves and freed blacks lie outside the wall, and a small fenced Rector family area lies to the north. Markers range from the colonial period to 1971. The cemetery is important chiefly as the burial place of General William Campbell, born in 1745, who led Virginia militia at the October 1780 victory at King's Mountain and died in 1781. His son-in-law, General Francis Preston, brought his remains here and erected a tombstone in 1823. A granite table tomb replaced the original marble in 1964 and keeps Preston's inscription.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition and unaltered, on its original site, and still occupied, with private ownership and use as a cemetery.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.658816-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/82/6836/41683682/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/80004226.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004226/53d59e8000-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004226/53d59e8000-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smyth,_Aspenvale_Cemetery.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smyth,_Aspenvale_Cemetery.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683682","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspenvale_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15192711"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/smyth-county/aspenvale-cemetery-80004226/"}