{"nrhp_refnum":"92001371","name":"Blandford Cemetery","other_names":["VDHR File No. 123-110","See Also:Blandford Church"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"319 S. Crater Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Petersburg (Independent City)","county":"Petersburg","state":"VA","lat":37.227568814500046,"lon":-77.37834089111522,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1992-10-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Blandford Cemetery is the public cemetery of Petersburg, Virginia, sited on Wells's Hill at 319 South Crater Road. Burials date from 1702, and the town bought the site in 1819; it now covers about 189 acres.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the cemetery is unique in Virginia for its funerary art, with roughly thirty thousand gravestones spanning almost three hundred years of changing attitudes toward death. It holds the largest and finest collection of cast and wrought iron fences and gates in the state and one of the best in the nation. It also contains a large Confederate section, mausoleums and monuments by regional and national carvers.","narrative":"Blandford Cemetery occupies Wells's Hill in Petersburg, Virginia, and has been a burial ground since at least 1702, when Richard Yarbrough was buried there. An Anglican church was built on the site in 1735, and in 1819 the town bought the church and adjoining land as its public burying ground. Added purchases expanded it to about 189 acres, and it remains Petersburg's public cemetery. Roughly thirty thousand gravestones record changing attitudes toward death, from plain early sandstone markers and death's heads to Victorian angels, obelisks and mausoleums. Local firms such as Bowie, Wright & Sharpe worked alongside carvers from Richmond, Philadelphia and elsewhere. The cemetery is especially noted for its cast and wrought iron fences and gates, including pieces by Wood & Perot of Philadelphia and J. B. Wickersham of New York, regarded as the finest collection in Virginia and among the best in the country. The Confederate section on Memorial Hill adds further historical weight.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Early Republic; Mid-19th Century: Gothic Revival, Exotic Revival; Late Victorian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Continues to serve as the public cemetery of Petersburg; about 110 of its 189 acres are developed.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.986713-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/24/6825/41682524/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/92001371.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92001371/5d4f3861c2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92001371/5d4f3861c2-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BlanfordCemetery.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BlanfordCemetery.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"66000831","name":"Petersburg National Battlefield","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/petersburg-national-battlefield-66000831/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682524","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blandford_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4925011"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/petersburg/blandford-cemetery-92001371/"}