Woodlawn Cemtery and Woodlawn National Cemetery
Why it's listed
Woodlawn Cemetery in northwest Elmira, New York, opened in 1858 on fifty acres and now covers 104.2 acres. Its older portion follows the picturesque rural cemetery model, with curving gravel roads, mature trees and a natural ridge used for overlooks. Beyond the ridge, flatter ground holds twentieth-century memorial gardens, including the Companion Garden of 1945, designed by Ray F. Wyrick, whose markers each carry two names. Notable structures include rusticated stone entrance gates of 1890 and a Gothic Revival chapel of 1905, both by Pierce and Bickford, plus a 300-crypt mausoleum from 1910 and family vaults. Woodlawn National Cemetery, a 10.5-acre veterans' burial ground, sits inside the city cemetery and has 8,570 burials. Its oldest sections contain Spanish American War veterans and nearly 3,000 Confederate soldiers who died at the Elmira prison camp. The cemeteries also contain the graves of Samuel Clemens, known as Mark Twain, and the educators and ministers Catherine and Thomas K. Beecher.
Significance in brief: The nomination presents the city cemetery as a physical record of cemetery design trends, with a picturesque nineteenth-century rural section and an early twentieth-century memorial park section. It also holds the burials of nationally and locally important people, including Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) and Catherine and Thomas K. Beecher. The national cemetery holds over 8,000 burials, including nearly 3,000 Confederate soldiers who died in the Elmira prison camp in 1864-65.
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 04001117, listed October 6, 2004. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Walnut and Davis Sts., West Hill and Bancroft Rds., Elmira |
|---|---|
| County | Chemung County |
| Listed | October 6, 2004 |
| Reference number | 04001117 |
| Resource type | Site |
| Architect / builder | Pierce and Bickford (entrance gates 1890, mortuary chapel 1905); Ray F. Wyrick (memorial gardens, 1945-1967) |
| Architectural style | Rural cemetery and memorial park landscape; Gothic Revival chapel; neoclassical mausoleum |
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Landscape Architecture, Military |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Woodlawn Cemetery is still active, with an average of about 300 interments a year. The national cemetery is maintained by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The 1905 chapel was converted to offices in 1960. |
| Acreage | 104.2 |
| Coordinates | 42.11151, -76.82802 (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 04001117.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q21482257
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.