Clarksville's Mt Olive Cemetery Added To National Register Of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation's historic places worthy of preservation.  Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archeological resources.

According to Nick Nicholson, President of the Mt Olive Cemetery Historic Preservation Society, he and board members worked in partnership with the State’s Historical Commission over the past 2 years researching and refining the application for the National Parks Service.  In October, the Society briefed Clarksville’s Regional Historic Zoning Commission which unanimously approved the nomination, clearing the application’s pathway to the State and onto Washington for final consideration and approval.  

On 16 November 2020, the cemetery was designated a National Historic Place.

The Mt. Olive Cemetery is a 7.24-acre African American cemetery established around 1817 on the south side of Clarksville.  Mt. Olive is Clarksville’s largest, private African American cemetery which accepted interments from 1817 to 1958.  An estimated 1350 graves are located within the cemetery, although a ground penetrating radar study would suggest that is a conservative estimate.

Among the many individuals interred in Mt. Olive Cemetery, there are currently identified 215 civilians and thirty military veterans, of which 30 are known United States Colored Troops (USCT), one World War II veteran, and one Buffalo Soldier.  These numbers include two new US Colored Troops recently discovered by the Society.

The Mt Olive Cemetery Historical Preservation Society is a 501(c)3 Public Benefit Non-Profit Organization whose mission is to emphasize the influence and contributions of African-Americans regarding the history, education, development, growth and culture of the Clarksville, Tennessee area.