NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Did you know there are multiple cemeteries at the Nashville International Airport? It turns out there are hundreds of historical cemeteries across Davidson County — and several people have been working to document and protect them.

In 2021, the Metro Historical Commission of Nashville & Davidson County (MHC) began a long-term project to update records about cemeteries in Davidson County. The work for the Davidson County Cemetery Survey is ongoing, but findings for the first four phases of the project have already been made public.

On Aug. 18, anthropologist and archaeologist Lauren Walls presented findings for the fourth phase to the MHC, revealing information about cemeteries both on and near BNA. Walls also works as a principal investigator and branch manager for New South Associates, which helps MHC with survey.

Two cemeteries Walls featured in her presentation were connected to the Central State Hospital. According to the Tennessee Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services, the Tennessee Lunatic Asylum opened in 1840 and was the eleventh institution for people with mental illness in the U.S. Seven years later, mental health advocate Dorothea Dix published a 32-page report calling for improved accommodations. You can read her full report here. In 2018, a historical marker for the Tennessee Hospital for the Insane was erected at the intersection of Murfreesboro Pike and Dell Parkway.

Walls said that between roughly 1857 and the 1930s, hospital records indicated that about 137 African American patients were buried in an institutionally segregated cemetery. However, she added that former State Archaeologist Nick Fielder claimed the actual number of patients there may have been as high as 800. Today, Walls said some of the only evidence of that cemetery — which is next to a working runway — is a flat limestone rectangle around a mound of vinca, which is a flower that Walls called a dead giveaway for a burial site. Walls added that some suggested there could be a mass grave at the site.

“They either never had markers or perhaps the airport removed them for ease of maintenance to mow the area — altogether just not treated with honor,” Walls told commissioners in August. “One that makes us, when we walk away from the survey, feel an injustice has been done.”

Caroline Eller, historic preservationist at MHC, told News 2 that a plaque was placed on the fence at the cemetery for African American patients telling people a little bit about its background.

Throughout roughly the same period, Walls said hospital records indicated that about 500 people were buried in a separate cemetery for white patients — with actual estimates closer to 1,000. Several headstones sustained breakage suggesting vandalism in addition to the absence of custodial care.

During the August meeting, Walls mentioned the existence of a Facebook group called “Friends of Central State Hospital Cemetery-TN.” The group’s creator, Janice King, said she started it after beginning her own search for a loved one. The group includes comments from several other people searching for their own loved ones.

King said she hopes to have signage and easier access to at least one of the Central State Hospital cemeteries — an effort she said she’s been collaborating with state leaders on for years. That way, when people call her and want to visit a loved one, they easily can.

“Those patients were people who were loved by families,” King said. “...I just think they need the dignity of a properly marked burial place.”

Eller said seven confirmed historical cemeteries were documented on airport property during the April survey, with an eighth unconfirmed cemetery. Though some "may not look like much," Eller said they had vegetation, some dips in the land and fieldstones, so they were still considered cemeteries. Others still had some structural remains from residences and other outbuildings, while others still had taller headstones and inscribed monuments.

You can take a look at the slideshow below to see the confirmed cemeteries on airport property documented in the survey:

Eller also told News 2 BNA had fenced off some sites in an effort to protect them, and at least one of the cemeteries is still maintained by descendants of those who rest there. MHC sent survey forms, photos and other key geographic information to BNA.

"The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provides specific guidance and regulations regarding land use near airports, including the development of cemeteries," Erin Thomas, Media Relations Manager for the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, said in a statement to News 2.

Thomas also submitted this link to the FAA's land use compatibility planning.

The work at and around BNA is just one small piece of the MHC’s project. In all, this project has documented about 443 sites across the county and MHC maintains records on nearly 700 cemeteries. Discrepancies, Eller explained, arise in part from an inability to access some cemeteries. For others, MHC learned about them through word-of-mouth.

It’s working with community members that gives the work its meaning, both Eller and Walls agreed.

“How do you not get interested in hearing all of these stories and learning about these families, these communities?” Eller said. “...It tells the story of Nashville and Davidson County. It tells the story of Tennessee. It tells the story of U.S. history. It just goes on and on. There are so many layers."

"We’re going to make sure that somebody else knows this is here and somebody else knows what kind of threats it’s under so that if one day, somebody does come around and say, 'My grandmother was buried off of this road way out in rural Davidson County,' we can say, ‘Aha! Yes! This is how you get to it,'" Walls added.

Check out some of MHC's work across Davidson County in the slideshow below:

Looking ahead, Eller said there are plans to apply for a highly competitive 2-year, $200,000 grant program through the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Descendant and Stewardship Initiative. The grant would help fund future phases of the project.

The next phase, per Eller, will focus on documenting and researching historical African American cemeteries through field surveys, collecting oral history and other research efforts. Since this summer, the MHC has been working with the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society of Nashville and the Tennessee Historical Commission to establish an African American cemeteries coalition to in advance of the upcoming field work.

Walls said they've taken what they’ve learned from the past four years of surveys and created a short report about the state of African American cemeteries in the area, where they can expect to find others, current local preservation efforts and more.

The project will culminate in the creation of the first county-level cemetery preservation plan in the state of Tennessee. Eller said the plan would cover resources for historical cemetery preservation, development and recommendations for individual site management. The plan will also provide resources like funding opportunities and other types of preservation assistance. If you would like an existing guide for working with Davidson County’s Historical Cemeteries, you can follow this link.

“Our goal is to see how people have handled this and provide guidance to others that are dealing with a cemetery like this on their property, in their family [or] in their community that they see as a threatened resource and they need to do something to take care of it,” Walls told News 2.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/davidson-co-cemetery-survey-oct-2025/