The Colonial Park Cemetery

The Colonial Park Cemetery is located in downtown Savannah, at the intersection of Abercorn Street and Oglethorpe Avenue. The cemetery is also known as The Old Cemetery and The Brick Cemetery. The Colonial Park Cemetery is the second cemetery in Savannah. It was founded in 1750 and was closed for burials in 1853. It was then reopened as a park in 1896.

Many famous Revolutionary War heroes are buried in Colonial Park Cemetery. Button Gwinnett was buried in the cemetery in 1777. He is one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was also the acting governor of Georgia during the Revolutionary War. He was not on good terms with General Lachlan McIntosh, the leader of the Continental troops in Georgia. Gwinnett challenged Mclntosh to a duel. Gwinnett died three days later of a leg wound suffered in the duel. General Lachlan McIntosh died in1806 and was also buried in Colonial Park Cemetery.
The remains of Major General Nathanael Greene were laid in the Graham vault until they were reburied at Johnson Square in 1901. There were also many ordinary civilians buried in Colonial Park Cemetery. Over 700 citizens died during the Great Yellow Fever epidemic of 1820. They were all buried in Colonial Park Cemetery. Even though there are only about 600 burial markers still standing in the cemetery, over 10,000 bodies are buried there.
During the Civil War, Union troops were stationed at the cemetery because it was ideal for horses. The troops often searched for valuables among the graves. Since most of the soldiers were mischievous, they switched a number of dates on some of the tombstones. If the tampered dates are correct, then the oldest person buried there lived to be 1700!