Colony Burying Ground, Old
Also known as: Old Colony Burying Ground; Old Cemetery (LIC-251-15)
Why it's listed
Old Colony Burying Ground occupies nearly three acres on a hillside at the southern entrance to Granville, Ohio. Laid out in 1805 and expanded northward about 1815, it holds roughly 940 gravestones and monuments, the earliest surviving stone dating to 1808. A central roadway divides the grounds, and a sandstone retaining wall of 1887 and iron gates of 1912 line South Main Street. The cemetery is notable for its carved sandstone and marble markers, including box tombs, urns and lancet-arched stones by Granville carvers Rollin Hughes and Manley Whipple, and large monuments to Lucius Mower and Charles Blanchard. In 1886 local pharmacist Charles Webster Bryant numbered and recorded the visible stones, creating a record that has helped guide later conservation. Burials declined after Maple Grove Cemetery opened in 1863, which left the grounds remarkably intact. Recent seating areas, stone steps and a small information building serve visitors.
Significance in brief: The burying ground preserves a large, largely untouched collection of early 19th-century sandstone and marble gravestones by local carvers such as Rollin Hughes and Manley Whipple. It is also unusually well documented thanks to Charles Webster Bryant's 1886 numbered inscription record. The text does not state the criteria or the full significance argument, as the document is truncated.
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 05000577, listed June 10, 2005. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 250 S. Main St, Granville |
|---|---|
| County | Licking County |
| Listed | June 10, 2005 |
| Reference number | 05000577 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Gravestone carvers Rollin Hughes, Manley N. Whipple and H. W. Bragg; DeBow Bros. (monument builders); Henry Hill (1887 retaining wall contractor); John Klauder (landscape architect for seating areas and steps) |
| Areas of significance | Art, Community Planning and Development, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still in use as a cemetery, with visitor seating areas, information boards and a small 1994 building added. |
| Acreage | 2.9 |
| Within district | Granville Historic District |
| Coordinates | 40.06530, -82.51980 (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 05000577.
- 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.