Bonaventure Cemetery

Bonaventure Cemetery occupies 160 acres on a bluff above the Wilmington River in Savannah. It began in 1846, when Peter Wiltberger bought the 600-acre Bonaventure Plantation and set aside 70 acres for burials. The City of Savannah bought it in 1907 and enlarged it by 1909, adding a Jewish section. Live oaks line the unpaved avenues, and the layout follows the Rural Cemetery tradition of a landscaped, picturesque burial ground. The grounds hold about 6,010 burials, 25 historic mausoleums, obelisks, iron fences and sculpture. More than 100 works are attributed to German-born sculptor John Walz, including the Gracie Watson monument. Two buildings survive: a brick gatehouse built before 1900 and a Jewish chapel from 1917, believed to be the only Jewish chapel in a city cemetery in Georgia. The cemetery was listed for its art, architecture, landscape design, community development and Jewish heritage, with a period of significance of 1846 to 1950.