Methodist Church Cemetery
The National Park Service has not published a boundary polygon for this district; the map shows the listed properties inside it and the district's reference point.
Why it's listed
Grass-covered and shaded by a grove of cedar and deciduous trees, the Methodist Church Cemetery lies two blocks south of the public square in Lincolnton. The first documented burial took place in 1828, after the death of the Reverend James Hill, minister of the Methodist congregation that worshipped on the site until 1920. Marble and granite gravestones mark the graves, among them a Greek Revival tablet carved by W. T. White of Charleston, South Carolina, for Martha Fulenwider, who died in 1855. Other stones were produced by Gaddess Bros. of Baltimore, Tiddy of Lincolnton and Charlotte, and Carolina Marble Works of Lincolnton. The cemetery was one of the town's few public burying grounds until Hollybrook Cemetery opened in 1905. Its marked and unmarked graves of African Americans, many with field stones or quartz rocks, form the earliest intact group of such burials in Lincolnton. The cemetery is valued for its funerary art and its record of church-based burial in the town.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · catalog entry. Generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29).
| Period of significance | ca. 1828-1944 |
|---|---|
| Areas of significance | Other, Exploration/Settlement, Black |
| Acreage | 2 |
| Boundary source | not published |
| Full listing page | Methodist Church Cemetery (property record) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.