Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 09/14/1998
NRHP Listing Date 02/05/1999
NRHP Reference Number 99000139
Greenlawn Cemetery is significant both for its landscape architecture and for its Civil War association. Builders chose the site along the border of the cities of Hampton and Newport News because of its distance from the activity of the nearby urban centers. The cemetery plan incorporates the existing natural features of trees and waterways into a larger, picturesque scheme popular in mid- to late-19th-century cemetery design. In 1908, after the present Newport News Shipbuilding Company occupied Camp Butler, a monument was erected commemorating reinterred Confederate prisoners of war from the camp. The monument [pictured above] is prominently placed in the center of a series of concentric circular paths and plots, set back from the more regular paths near the entrance. The cemetery still retains most of its granite curbing, broad paths, and alleys.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: February 19, 2021
