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.
Hufstedler Gravehouse | |
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| Nearest city | Linden, Tennessee |
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| Coordinates | 35°33′58″N 87°49′27″W / 35.56611°N 87.82417°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1885 |
| NRHP reference No. | 87001038[1] |
| Added to NRHP | June 25, 1987 |
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
edit- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ a b "More About: Pinckney's Tomb". Tennessee River Trail Points of Interest. Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
- ^ a b c "Hufstedler Cemetery/Pinckney's Tomb (Linden, Perry County)". Ten in Tennessee: 2009 Ten in Tenn. Tennessee Preservation Trust.
- ^ "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.
