Wilmington in New Hanover County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

1862 Burial Site of Yellow Fever Victims

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, November 24, 2024

1. 1862 Burial Site of Yellow Fever Victims Marker

Inscription. Communal burial site of approximately 400 people who died of yellow fever during Wilmington's epidemic between September and the frosts of November 1862. Few yellow fever victims' burials are marked with headstones.

In 1862 Wilmington's population, black and white, was approximately 10,000. About half of the population fled the city to avoid the epidemic. Of the 1,505 reported cases, 654 (43%) died of yellow fever.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Disasters. A significant historical month for this entry is November 1862.

Location. 34° 14.752′ N, 77° 55.84′ W. Marker is in Wilmington, North Carolina, in New Hanover County. It can be reached from North 15th Street north of Campbell Street when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 520 N 15th St, Wilmington NC 28401, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Coastal Plain and on the Cape Fear Coast.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

and in the Tidewater.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic

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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: Oakdale Cemetery (approx. 0.2 miles away); Glascow Hicks House (approx. ¼ mile away); Hiatt House (approx. ¼ mile away); Pine Forest Cemetery (approx. ¼ mile away); Allen and Anna Love House (approx. ¼ mile away); Jesse James Mohn House (approx. 0.3 miles away); Bellamy-Baggett House (approx. 0.3 miles away); Mohn-Hartley House (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Wilmington.

Also see . . . Wilmington Cemetery Tells Tale of a North Carolina Epidemic. One hundred fifty-two years ago this week, thick black smoke hovered in the skies over Wilmington, carts collecting dead bodies trundled over the roads and uncollected rubbish produced a stench that permeated the city. Gravediggers at Oakdale Cemetery, just outside

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, November 24, 2024

2. 1862 Burial Site of Yellow Fever Victims Marker

of town, buried at least a dozen bodies a day. (Rose Hoban, NC Health News, Oct. 20, 2014) (Submitted on January 29, 2025, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

Yellow Fever victims image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, November 24, 2024

3. Yellow Fever victims

Approximately 400 people are buried in Oakdale Cemetery's "Yellow Fever Hill". The names of 311 known victims are listed on this nearby informational panel.

Credits. This page was last revised on June 12, 2025. It was originally submitted on January 29, 2025, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 300 times since then and 58 times this year. Last updated on June 10, 2025, by Evan Dwyer of Richmond, Virginia. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on January 29, 2025, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.