Elmwood Cemetery (Birmingham, Alabama)

Updated on Dec 11, 2024

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Established 1900 Country USA Size 412 acres (1.67 km) Founded 1900		Location Birmingham, Alabama Type public Find a Grave Elmwood Cemetery Phone +1 205-251-3114
Address 600 Martin Luther King Jr Dr, Birmingham, AL 35211, USA Hours Open today · 7:30AM–5:30PMThursday7:30AM–5:30PMFriday7:30AM–5:30PMSaturday7:30AM–5:30PMSunday7:30AM–5:30PMMonday7:30AM–5:30PMTuesday7:30AM–5:30PMWednesday7:30AM–5:30PM Burials Bear Bryant, Sun Ra, Mary Anderson, B. B. Comer Similar Oak Hill Cemetery, 16th Street Baptist Church, Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, Cathedral of Saint Paul, Alabama Sports Hall of Fame

Elmwood Cemetery is a 412 acres (167 ha) cemetery established in 1900 (as Elm Leaf Cemetery) in Birmingham, Alabama northwest of Homewood by a group of fraternal organizations. It was renamed in 1906 and gradually eclipsed Oak Hill Cemetery as the most prominent burial place in the city. It has a chapel funeral home at 800 Dennison Avenue Southwest which was established in 1962 by the Lackey family for Johns-Ridout's Mortuary.

The cemetery is roughly bounded by Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, Dennison Avenue Southwest, 14th Place Southwest, and railroad tracks. The main entrance is directly across from 6th Avenue Southwest.

The cemetery is made up of about fifty large blocks, of varying shapes and sizes, each of which contains up to several hundred lots; each lot contains as many as eight or ten burial plots. As of early 2017, the cemetery contained about 130,000 burials. Notable sections include at least two areas dedicated to newborns and infants, with brass plaques that say "BABYLAND" on them. There are also four mausoleums.

The body of 16th Street Baptist Church bombing victim, Denise McNair was exhumed from Shadow Lawn Memorial Park to this cemetery by her parents in August 2007.

Notable burials

Truman H. Aldrich (1848–1932) - U. S. Representative 1896–1897

William W. Allen (1835–1894) - Confederate Major General

Mary Anderson (1866–1953) - inventor of the windshield wiper

Donald Beatty (1900–1980) - aviator, explorer and inventor

Sydney J. Bowie (1865–1928) - U. S. Representative 1901–1907

Paul W. "Bear" Bryant (1913–1983) - University of Alabama football coach

Ben Chapman (1908–1993) - Major League baseball player

B. B. Comer - (1848–1927) - Governor of Alabama 1907–1911, U. S. Senator 1920

Father James Coyle (1873–1921) - assassinated priest of St. Paul's church

George Gordon Crawford (1869–1936) - Industrialist and second graduate of Georgia Tech

Russell McWhortor Cunningham (1855–1921) - Governor of Alabama 1904–1905

Spud Davis (1904–1984) - professional baseball player and manager

William Henry Denson (1846–1906) - U. S. Representative 1893–1895

Eddie Dent (1887–1974) - professional baseball player

Joe Domnanovich (1919–2009) - professional football player

Henry Eugene "Red" Erwin, Sr. (1921–2002) - World War II veteran - Medal of Honor Winner

William Dudley Geer (1922–2003) - first Dean of the School of Business at Samford University

Milton L. Grafman (1907-1995) - Former Rabbi of Temple Emanuel and civil rights figure

John Grenier (1930–2007) - Alabama Republican Party chairman

Sam Hairston (1920–1997) - Major League baseball player

Art Hanes (1916–1997) - Mayor of Birmingham 1961–1963

Lum Harris (1915–1996) - professional baseball manager (Houston Astros & Atlanta Braves)

Erskine Hawkins (1914–1993) - Musician, trumpeter, composer

Cliff Holman (1929–2008) - Birmingham television celebrity

George Huddleston (1869–1960) - U. S. Representative 1915–1937

George Huddleston, Jr. (1920–1971) - U. S. Representative 1955–1965

Patti Ruffner Jacobs (1875–1935) - social reformer

Joseph Forney Johnston (1843–1913) - Governor of Alabama 1896–1900, U. S. Senator 1907–1913

Eddie Kendricks (1939–1992) - singer, co-founder of The Temptations

Erskine Ramsay (1864–1953) - Inventor, engineer, philanthropist

Dee Miles (1909–1976) - Major League baseball player

John P. Newsome (1893–1961) - U. S. Representative 1943–1945

Luther Patrick (1894–1957) - U. S. Representative 1937–1943

Sun Ra (1914–1993) - Jazz musician

Rufus N. Rhodes (1856–1910) - founder of the Birmingham News

Bo Russell (1916–1997) - professional football player

Ed Salem (1928–2001) - professional football player and restaurateur

Albert Lee Smith, Jr. (1931–1997) - U.S. representative from Alabama's 6th congressional district from 1981 to 1983

Fred Sington (1910–1998) - professional football player

Jesse F. Stallings (1856–1928) - U. S. Representative 1893–1901

Oscar Underwood (1862–1929) - U. S. Senator 1915–1927

Dixie Walker (1887–1965), Fred "Dixie" Walker's father

Dixie Walker (1911–1982) - Major League baseball player

Frank S. White (1847–1922) - U. S. Senator 1914–1915

Abraham Woods (1928–2008) - minister and civil rights activist

Yam Yaryan (1892–1964) - Major League baseball player

References

Elmwood Cemetery (Birmingham, Alabama) Wikipedia

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