Park View in Portsmouth, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Cedar Grove Cemetery

Photographed by Cynthia L. Clark, March 9, 2018

1. Cedar Grove Cemetery Marker

Inscription. The Town of Portsmouth established Cedar Grove Cemetery just outside town limits in 1832. A trove of 19th-century funerary art, the cemetery contains monuments and statues handcrafted in the Victorian, Greek Revival, and Egyptian Revival styles, many bearing symbolic motifs. Buried here are at least 10 veterans of the Revolutionary War and 47 veterans of the War of 1812, including Capt. Arthur Emmerson, a hero of the Battle of Craney Island. Also interred here are John Luke Porter, co-designer of the ironclad C.S.S. Virginia, and many Confederate soldiers and sailors. The cemetery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Erected 2015 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number Q-8-y.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • War of 1812 • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1832.

Location. 36° 50.38′ N, 76° 18.497′ W. Marker is in Portsmouth, Virginia. It is in Park View. It is at the intersection of Fort

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Lane and Blair Street, on the right when traveling north on Fort Lane. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Portsmouth VA 23704, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Virginia’s Hampton Roads,

specifically in Coastal Virginia,

and in the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in the Tidewater,

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Grace Phillips Pollard (a few steps from this marker); a different marker also named Cedar Grove Cemetery (a few steps from this marker); a different marker also named Cedar Grove Cemetery (a few steps from this marker); The Portsmouth Cedar Grove Cemetery (within shouting

Photographed by Cynthia L. Clark, March 9, 2018

2. Cedar Grove Cemetery Marker.

Cedar Grove Cemetery Marker (front).

distance of this marker); CSS Virginia Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); Portsmouth Confederate Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); The Confederate Section (within shouting distance of this marker); This Bell (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Portsmouth.

Cedar Grove Cemetery Marker (back). image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cynthia L. Clark, March 9, 2018

3. Cedar Grove Cemetery Marker (back).

Cedar Grove Cemetery entrance. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cynthia L. Clark, March 9, 2018

4. Cedar Grove Cemetery entrance.

Multiple markers, including Q-8-y, flank the cemetery’s entrance (from left to right): 1) a Cedar Grove Cemetery, Path of History – Portsmouth, Virginia marker; 2) a circular sign inscribed with Cedar Grove Cemetery; and 3) a National Register of Historic Places plaque.

The breadth of Cedar Grove Cemetery. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cynthia L. Clark,

5. The breadth of Cedar Grove Cemetery.

Reported to be a four-acre parcel, the cemetery extends southward on Fort Lane for over three blocks from Blair Street towards London Boulevard.

Detail of the National Register of Historic Places plaque. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cynthia L. Clark, March 9, 2018

6. Detail of the National Register of Historic Places plaque.

This plaque is inscribed with: Cedar Grove Cemetery, Est. 1832, has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.

Photographed by C. Ryan Dodson, April 10, 2026

7. Cedar Grove Cemetery Marker

Blue Star Memorial image. Click for full size.

Photographed by C. Ryan Dodson, April 10, 2026

8. Blue Star Memorial

Cedar Grove Cemetery is also designated a Blue Star Memorial

Credits. This page was last revised on May 4, 2026. It was originally submitted on June 18, 2018, by Cynthia L. Clark of Suffolk, Virginia. This page has been viewed 546 times since then and 52 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on June 18, 2018, by Cynthia L. Clark of Suffolk, Virginia. 7. submitted on April 12, 2026, by C. Ryan Dodson of Danville, Virginia. 8. submitted on April 29, 2026, by C. Ryan Dodson of Danville, Virginia. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.