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Nestled in the heart of downtown Greenville, Springwood Cemetery
fronts on North Main Street and is bordered by Academy Street,
Church Street and Elford Street. It is known for its beauty,
landscape, and rich history. The cemetery is the resting place
for many of Greenville’s most prominent citizens. However, the
cemetery is not simply a memorial to great names, for it is the
resting place of more than 10,000 mortal beings from all walks
of life, with approximately 2,600 graves with no headstones. The
great variety of monuments in the cemetery commemorate the
famous as well as the “now forgotten,” making it a compelling
lesson in Greenville’s history.
Springwood Cemetery, only one acre in size at the time, was
first opened to the public for burial in 1829. The original
South Carolina grant on which Springwood Cemetery stands was a
grant in 1784 to James Hamilton. Less than one month later, John
Timmons received a grant of 473 acres, which included the land
on which the present‑day cemetery is located. The overflow of a
spring once passed through the cemetery, for which it is
believed the cemetery was named. |
In 1812, Elizabeth Blackburn Williams was the first person to
be buried in what later became a small family burial ground for
her daughter and son‑in‑law, Elizabeth Blackburn Thompson and
Waddy Thompson. From these beginnings grew the larger Springwood
Cemetery as we know it today. In
subsequent years, additional acreage was added, including a
public section for African Americans, dating back to before
1863.
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