Rose Hill Cemetery
Why it's listed
Rose Hill Cemetery is a 50-acre burial ground on the Ocmulgee River in Macon, Georgia, planned in 1840 when the city council set aside the tract. Simri Rose, a newspaper editor and horticulturist, designed it and oversaw the clearing, importing shrubs and trees. His layout used a Doric-style arched entrance gate, a broad avenue to a bluff above the river, about five miles of carriage ways and footpaths, springs, a stream, a pond and plantings of roses. It was modeled on the idea of Mount Auburn in Boston. Family lots hold monuments, some carved by Italian or American sculptors, and some cost as much as $15,000. Masonic, Odd Fellows and Jewish sections lie within the grounds, along with a hillside of about 600 Confederate and Union graves. The nomination values the cemetery as a rare surviving example of picturesque landscape gardening, at a time when most such work was on private grounds, and as a collection of fine 19th-century sculpture reflecting Macon's history.
Significance in brief: The nomination presents Rose Hill as a surviving example of the picturesque 19th-century burial garden, with planted and natural growth around sculpted memorials. It notes that most landscape gardening of the period was on private grounds and few examples remain. It also points to the carved monuments and the cemetery's reflection of Macon's history.
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) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 73000611, listed October 9, 1973. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Riverside Dr., Macon |
|---|---|
| County | Bibb County |
| Listed | October 9, 1973 |
| Reference number | 73000611 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 19th Century (specific date 1840) |
| Architect / builder | Simri Rose (designer) |
| Areas of significance | Landscape Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition is marked good and altered; the form notes weathering, vandalism, eroded surfaces and toppled monuments. The cemetery is owned by the City of Macon and in use as a cemetery. |
| Acreage | 50 |
| Coordinates | 32.84805, -83.63342 (NPS GIS) |
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.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 73000611.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14686811
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.