Laurel Grove-South Cemetery
Why it's listed
Laurel Grove-South is a cemetery of roughly fifteen acres (a later amendment corrects the figure to about 35) at the western end of 37th Street in Savannah. It was laid out after 1850 as the section of Laurel Grove for free people of color and slaves, based on a plan by engineer J. O. Morse and carried out by landscape gardener William George. In 1855 burials from the old potter's field and Black cemetery were moved here, and a row of stones marks the mass re-interment. Markers are mostly small tablets, with few mausolea and some brick vaults. The cemetery holds the graves of Andrew Bryan, Andrew Marshall, Henry Cunningham, educator Jane Deveaux, and legislators James Simms and Ulysses Houston. Their inscriptions preserve details of lives rarely recorded elsewhere. The grounds also show social change through grave markers, from carved stones to names pressed into concrete.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the cemetery is a significant record of Black social history in the Savannah area, especially for the nineteenth century. Its markers are often the only surviving public documentation of prominent Black pastors, educators, legislators and artisans. The layout, marker types and mass re-interment of slave graves also show changing social and economic status.
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 78000972, listed September 6, 1978. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 37th St., Savannah |
|---|---|
| County | Chatham County |
| Listed | September 6, 1978 |
| Reference number | 78000972 |
| Resource type | Site |
| Period of significance | 1852 to present |
| Architect / builder | J. O. Morse |
| Areas of significance | Black, Religion |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Occupied and in use as a cemetery, publicly owned. The row of stones marking the 1855 mass grave is overgrown with vines and many stones are sinking into the sandy soil. NAACP-funded restorations of several ministers' graves were done in 1972-73. |
| Acreage | 35 |
| Coordinates | 32.06044, -81.11587 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
Sites (archaeological sites, battlefields, landscapes) are often listed with a restricted address to protect them from looting or disturbance. Listing is honorary for private owners; federal undertakings on or near the site go through Section 106 review, and state laws may protect burials and artefacts regardless of listing.
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 78000972.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.