View source for Old Settlers' Cemetery (Charlotte, North Carolina)

{{Short description|Historic municipal burial ground}}
{{Infobox park
| name          = Old Settlers' Cemetery
| photo         = Charlotte Settlers' Cemetery.jpg
| photo_caption = Old Settlers' Cemetery, main entrance
| map           =
| map_width     =
| type          = former city cemetery
| location      = [[Charlotte, North Carolina]]
| coords        = {{coord|35.2296|-80.8431|display=inline,title}}
| area          = 1.6 acres
| created       =
| operator      = [http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/Pages/default.aspx City of Charlotte]
| status        =
| open          =
| website       =
}}
'''Old Settlers' Cemetery''' is a city-owned cemetery located at 200 West 5th Street, right in the middle of [[Charlotte, North Carolina]].  It was the first municipal burial ground in Charlotte and contains the graves of many early settlers, with gravesites dating from 1776 through 1884.<ref>[http://www.cmstory.org/history/hornets/cemetery.htm Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, The Charlotte—Mecklenburg Story: Charlotte and Mecklenburg Cemeteries]</ref>  Prominent people buried in Old Settlers' include [[Nathaniel Alexander (governor)|Nathaniel Alexander]], [[Greene Washington Caldwell]], Revolutionary War hero Major General George Graham,<ref>[http://www.findagrave.com/php/famous.php?page=cem&FScemeteryid=641030 Find a Grave: Old Settlers Cemetery]</ref> and [[Thomas Polk]],<ref>[http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/ParkandRec/TrailOfHistory/Pages/ThomasPolk.aspx Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation: Thomas Polk]</ref> Charlotte founding father and great-uncle of United States President [[James K. Polk]]. Also contained in the cemetery is an obelisk honoring North Carolina planter and politician [[William Davidson (congressman)|William Davidson]].<ref name=landmarks>[http://www.cmhpf.org/essays/greenspace.html Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission: Old Settlers' Cemetery]</ref>
Old Settlers' was Charlotte's only city operated cemetery until 1854, when—due to space limitations—it was closed, and the City opened Elmwood/Pinewood Cemetery.<ref>[http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/epm/Services/Landscaping/Pages/Cemeteries.aspx Charlotte Government, City Cemetery Operations & Maintenance]</ref>  By the 1940s the cemetery was in poor condition and was only preserved through the efforts of Charlotte historian and legislator Julia McGehee Alexander.<ref>[http://ncpedia.org/biography/alexander-julia-mcgehee Alexander, Julia McGehee in NCpedia] by Harold J. Dudley, 1979</ref>
Old Settlers' Cemetery recently had a $500,000 restoration.<ref>''The Old Settlers Cemetery'', Charlotte Observer: Sunday, November 22, 1998</ref>  With its majestic old oaks and brick lined pathways, it is more park than cemetery and is a centerpiece of Charlotte's [[Charlotte center city#Fourth Ward|Fourth Ward Historic District]].<ref name=landmarks/>
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
==External links==
* [http://worldwidepanorama.org/worldwidepanorama/wwp609/html/GaryOBrien-5665.html Interactive video of Old Settlers' Cemetery]
[[Category:Cemeteries in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Parks in Charlotte, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Uptown Charlotte]]
[[Category:Cemeteries in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina]]