Hufstedler Gravehouse

Hufstedler Gravehouse
Nearest city Linden, Tennessee
Coordinates 35°33′58″N 87°49′27″W / 35.56611°N 87.82417°W / 35.56611; -87.82417Coordinates: 35°33′58″N 87°49′27″W / 35.56611°N 87.82417°W / 35.56611; -87.82417
Area less than one acre
Built 1885 (1885)
NRHP Reference # 87001038[1]
Added to NRHP June 25, 1987

Hufstedler Gravehouse or Pinckney’s Tomb is a grave shelter, or grave house, near Linden, Tennessee, that is considered to be the largest grave house in the U.S. state of Tennessee.[2] It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The grave house is a limestone and wood structure that covers the burial site of local farmer Pinckney Hufstedler and members of his family. It was originally built as a graveyard for about 10 to 12 burials, surrounded by a wall of cut stone almost 5 feet (1.5 m) high. Wooden walls and a roof were added because of Pinckney Hufstedler's fears that water could get into his tomb.[3] Hufstedler also asked that his body be transported to the burial site in a wagon drawn by white oxen, rather than mules.[2]

The structure is deemed to be a rare example of vernacular rural cemetery architecture of the 19th century.[3] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.[1] In 2009, the Tennessee Preservation Trust listed it as one of the state's ten most endangered historic sites, noting that the foundation was beginning to fail.[3][4]

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "More About: Pinckney's Tomb". Tennessee River Trail Points of Interest. Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 "Hufstedler Cemetery/Pinckney's Tomb (Linden, Perry County)". Ten in Tennessee: 2009 Ten in Tenn. Tennessee Preservation Trust.
  4. ↑ "Tennessee Preservation Trust's 2009 List of the "Ten Most Endangered Historic Sites in Tennessee"" (PDF). The Courier. Tennessee Historical Commission. June 2009. p. 8.
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