Old Gray Cemetery

Designer: Patricia Rutenburg

Embroiderer: Janice Murphy

Year Created: 2000

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In 1850, as part of the Rural Cemetery Movement, Old Gray Cemetery
was incorporated by the Tennessee Legislature. The elegant double iron
gates at the front entrance, attached to fine Victorian-era marble posts,
open to paved avenues throughout the 13-acre park. Named for
Thomas Gray, author of “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” the
cemetery is noted for the fine marble sculpture and elaborate carvings
adorning many of the grave markers and headstones. Veterans of all
wars fought by the United States are buried here, as are Knoxville’s most
influential citizens. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.