Hebrew Cemetery

Hebrew Cemetery occupies about 8.4 acres on Shockoe Hill in Richmond, Virginia, beside the 1861 Alms House and Shockoe Cemetery. Founded in 1816 and expanded several times, most recently in 1998, it holds about 2,600 burials laid out in a block and grid plan. Early sandstone markers are simple and carry Hebrew and English inscriptions, reflecting the Jewish belief that all are equal in death. Later monuments add Victorian symbols such as ivy, urns and tree forms, alongside Jewish emblems like the shofar and the Levite water jug. A Romanesque-style brick chapel from about 1898 replaced an earlier preparation house. A section enclosed by a distinctive iron fence holds thirty Jewish Confederate soldiers re-interred in 1866. The cemetery is described as the oldest active Jewish cemetery in continuous use in the South. Many of Richmond's Jewish merchants, civic leaders and rabbis are buried there, and the grounds remain in use.