Davidson County Cemetery Survey

Since November 1999, over 200 volunteers have recorded inscriptions on tombstones in over 400 cemeteries through the Davidson County Cemetery Survey project. Led by the Nashville Town Committee of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Tennessee, the initial survey project also involved the Metropolitan Government Archives, the Nashville Room of the Nashville Public Library, Historic Nashville, Inc., and former State Archaeologist Nick Fielder.

To view the Davidson County Cemetery Survey online, please visit the Davidson County Cemetery Survey primer page of the Nashville Open Data Portal. Once there, follow the "View Data" tab to work with the survey. Genealogical information is available to the public via the Metro Archives and Nashville Room's collections.

Please call the Metropolitan Historical Commission at 615-862-7970 with any questions or concerns about Davidson County’s cemeteries.

Tennessee State Laws Concerning Cemeteries

• Removal of vegetation and debris (Boy Scout Law)
• Historic Cemeteries in the State of Tennessee: General information, Laws, and Guidelines
• Tennessee Cemetery and Burial Site Laws
• Hearing and decree of escheat (reversion of property to the “state” when there is no owner or heir), Tennessee Code Annotated § 46-2-105

Metropolitan Government Laws Concerning Cemeteries

• Cemeteries owned by the Metropolitan Government (Ordinance No. BL2003-96)

Resources for Cleaning, Repair & Study

• Caring for Davidson County’s Cemeteries
• How to Clean a Stone Grave Marker (Video)
• Gravestone Cleaning (Video)
• How to Read the Unreadable Gravestone (Video)
• How to Reset a Stone Grave Marker (Video)
• Lifting and Hoisting Cemetery Monuments (Video)
• Chicora Foundation, Inc. Provides free articles on maintenance and repair as well as affordable publications on topics such as African-American cemeteries and iconography
• National Preservation Institute Provides seminars on preservation and documentation of historic cemeteries
• The Association of Gravestone Studies Provides information on preservation and conservation of gravestones, including a slide show illustrating step-by-step instructions for how to reset a fallen stone
• State of Tennessee’s Division of Archaeology
• Tennessee Genealogical Society
• National Register Bulletin: Guidelines for Evaluating and Registering Cemeteries and Burial Places
• Saving Graves - Cemetery Preservation Alliance
• Metropolitan Government Archives
• Tennessee Historical Commission

Learn more about the meaning of grave symbols

• Cemetery Symbolism