Myrtle Hill Cemetery

Myrtle Hill Cemetery occupies a steep hillside in South Rome, Georgia, near the point where the Etowah and Oostanaula Rivers meet to form the Coosa. The City of Rome bought the land in the early 1850s to replace Oak Hill, the original cemetery, which had become too small as the town grew. Colonel C.M. Pennington designed about half of the present cemetery in the picturesque rural style, with curving drives, stone terracing and informal landscaping. Later additions followed his approach, so the grounds look unified. Iron fences, many made locally by the Noble and McCoullough Foundry, and a long flight of steps at the east entrance add to the park-like setting. Seven marble vaults built between 1891 and 1940, most by the McNeel Marble Company of Marietta, represent typical funerary architecture. The cemetery also includes a large Confederate section and areas for paupers and Black residents. It was listed for community planning, landscape architecture and architecture.