Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, VA - 10 JUL 2011

Their website proclaims it to be America’s most beautiful ‘garden’ cemetery, operating since 1849. To the side of the gate you find this beautiful 'Painted Lady':

Named for the holly trees decorating the surrounding hills, this cemetery is one of Richmond’s major tourist attractions.

They have maps at the entrance to assist the tourists with their “Notables” treasure hunt. Of the 49 “Notables” listed on the map, only two of then are women.

Ellen Glasgow, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and Virginia R. Ellett, educator.

Located next to the James river, it holds two US Presidents and a Confederate President.

Of the remaining 44 “Notables,” over 90% are Confederate officers. Hollywood is the resting place of 25 Confederate generals (more than any other cemetery).

George E. Pickett, Major General Commanding. Born in Richmond City, Virginia Jan. 16, 1825, Died in Norfolk City, Virginia July 30, 1875:

90 foot granite pyramid is a monument to 18,000 Confederate soldiers who are buried nearby: 

"Numini et Patriae Asto" (They stood for God and country):

I had a close encounter with a groundhog that lives in the pyramid:

Their first grave:

Dog keeping watch over a child’s grave.

Close-up of the gravestone:

People photograph the dog and leave trinkets:

The other side:

They were 82 years old...most likely married for 50 years, she out lives him by five months and only gets an 'also' mention.

When I first started photographing cemeteries (over 25 years ago), I noticed several tree motifs or treestones. Lots of times they have makings identifying them as ‘Woodmen of the World,’ so I had to do some research to answer the mystery of who or what is ‘Woodmen of the World.’ 

Started in 1890 by Joseph Cullen Root (a Freemason), it was a fraternal society providing financial security including life insurance that would supply a gravestones…a benefit that was discontinued in 1920 due to rising costs.

Shaking hands are a common cemetery symbol representing a heavenly welcome, earthly farewell or loyalty & friendship even after death, but in this case with one feminine and one masculine it represents matrimony.

On the sides:

Is this redundant? Potts in a pot:

These folks gave each other equal billing:

Draped objects indicate mourning, the final curtain. An Urn represents the soul, mortality, the object that holds ashes or the act of returning to Goddess:

Masonic symbol within a Creator’s Star:

In 1890, she founded the Virginia Randolph Ellett School for Girls. Now known as St Catherine’s, it is Richmond’s oldest girls’ school.

Gates, symbolize entering heaven:

I noticed these interesting bags around some new trees:

Took a closer look and found they were a watering system:

I thought this tree had unique bark:

Here's the scale:

Jefferson Davis:

Jefferson Davis was a graduate of West Point and fought in the Mexican-American War, served as Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce and was a U. S. Senator before he became the Confederate President.

James Monroe, the fifth President, held more high offices than anyone else: 

John Tyler, the tenth President, vetoed so many bills passed by Congress that his own party threatened to impeach him: 

He was known as the accidental President as he was the Vice-President who took over for William Henry Harrison who died after a month in office. Harrison delivered the longest inaugural address in American history on a cold, wet day with neither a hat nor overcoat…thus catching pneumonia and dying. His death caused a constitutional crisis and the passage of the 25^th Amendment.

As I was leaving, I spotted this very unusual marker:

And he wasn't even listed as one of the "Notables."

View more of my Cemetery art: EnfocusGallery.com