By The Cemetery Detective — Forest Hills Cemetery, St. Elmo / Lookout Mountain foothills (2025 visit)

Forest Hills Cemetery is one of Chattanooga’s oldest and most historically layered burial grounds. Forest Hills was established in 1880, sitting at the foot of Lookout Mountain, and serving generations of local families, veterans (including Civil War interments), and the city’s industrial communities. The cemetery is large (roughly 100 acres with tens of thousands of recorded burials), contains distinctive historic monuments (including a prominent Confederate memorial), and has a documented map maintained by the Forest Hills Cemetery Association. All of these are reasons why a careful, repeatable program of temporal and geospatial documentation is valuable.

Below I describe the independent work I performed at Forest Hills, the same two-part approach I use at other sites: (A) temporal documentation (video with meta timestamps) and (B) spatial precision (GPS tracklog). Then I expand on how I prescribe to use GIS to build layers that make the cemetery data queryable, searchable, and useful for specialized research (for example: mapping all marble stones, all granite monuments, and locating zinc markers).

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Why Forest Hills Benefits from this Approach

Forest Hills is a historic community cemetery serving people tied to Chattanooga’s growth. Miners, railroad and ironworkers, Reconstruction-era families, fraternal organizations, and local civic leaders have all been served by Forest Hills Cemetery. Its location near Lookout Mountain and the St. Elmo neighborhood gives it both scenic and historical significance. The scale of the site and the importance of certain monuments mean that a year-by-year visual record plus geospatial layers give historians, genealogists, and municipal stewards a repeatable way to answer questions like: where are all of the Civil War veteran graves, which areas show accelerated stone weathering, or which lots contain zinc markers that are prone to a distinct corrosion pattern.

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Temporal Documentation: video drive-throughs and targeted still photography

My video drive-through captures the roads and lanes as a continuous, date-stamped visual record. For Forest Hills I did:

• A slow drive covering primary loops and secondary lanes, filmed at 1080p+ with steady mounting and embedded time-calls at the start and end of each pass.
• Walk-and-shoot segments for notable monuments: the Confederate monument, large marble angels and sculpted figures, mausolea, and any zinc (white-metal) markers I could find. Photographs of inscriptions were captured at high resolution for later transcription. (Zinc markers stand out visually and require different conservation attention than granite or marble.)

Why video + close photos? Video records context of tree cover, sightlines, road surfaces, decorations, and temporary items while still photos capture legible inscriptions and fine detail for transcription and material identification.

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Spatial documentation: GPS logging and GIS-ready GPX files

Simultaneously with the video I logged the drive routes using a high-accuracy GPS datalogger (1–5 second sampling). I export GPX tracks and bring them into GIS software (QGIS/ArcGIS). These GPX polylines form the skeleton I use to anchor video timestamps to exact map locations. These datapoints enable a researcher to jump from a map coordinate to the corresponding moment in the video.

I also collect single-point GPS fixes for specific features (e.g., unusual monuments, zinc markers, mausolea, cemetery sign). Each point is given a unique ID and linked to high-resolution photos and a short descriptive note (material, inscription legibility, condition).

Forest Hills maintains an official map and burial records which I use as a reference layer when positioning my features within the cemetery’s section/lot grid.

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Building GIS Layers: a reproducible, queryable data model

The value of GIS is not just a pretty map. GIS’ beauty comes from its ability to store attributes and filter/query them. Cemeteries like Forest Hills, benefit from maintaining core layers:

1. Base layers
   • High-resolution orthophoto (if available), or current aerial basemap.
   • Cemetery property boundary and scanned official map (georeferenced PDF).
2. Road & Pathway polylines
   • Created from GPX tracks; each polyline has attributes: road_name, drive_direction, record_date, video_file, video_start_time, video_end_time.
3. Plot/Section grid (vector polygons)
   • Digitized from the cemetery’s official map and/or from on-the-ground GPS corner points. Attributes: section, lot, availability, notes.
4. Monument points (the key research layer)
   • One point per monument/marker with attributes such as:
     • feature_ID (unique)name_on_marker (if legible)primary_material (marble, granite, limestone, zinc, bronze, concrete, etc.)secondary_material (base/ornament)marker_type (upright, flat, ledger, obelisk, mausoleum, zinc_tablet)date_erected (if inscribed)inscription_text (full or partial transcription)condition_score (numeric or categorical — e.g., 1–5)photo_refs (filenames, with timestamp)GPS_accuracy and recorded_by metadata
   This layer is what lets us answer queries like “show me all marble markers,” or “select all zinc markers installed before 1910.” Mapping material is essential to studies in cemetery geology and conservation because materials weather differently and tell us about sourcing and local trade patterns. (In Forest Hills marble appears commonly on older monuments; zinc monuments are less common but highly distinctive.)
5. Zinc markers — an explicit sub-layer
   • I often create a zinc feature class (or a boolean field is_zinc) because zinc monuments (a.k.a. “white bronze”) were popular 1870–1920 and have specific conservation and provenance stories. Zinc’s patina and brittle mounting methods make them a separate conservation case. Treating them as a distinct layer makes preservation tracking straightforward. (Readers of Forest Hills note a singular or small number of zinc markers among the granite and marble landscape.)
6. Vegetation & tree canopy
   • Large trees can obscure inscriptions, damage stones through root action, or alter microclimates that accelerate biological growth on stone. I map specimen trees and canopy cover where relevant to monument condition assessments.
7. Historic overlays
   • Georeferenced historical maps, insurance plat maps, city directories, and old aerials. These let one detect reinterments, landscape changes, or realignments. Forest Hills’s long history and the movement of some graves across the city is why historical overlays are useful.

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Example GIS queries and analyses you can do once layers exist

• “Select all monuments where primary_material = 'marble' and date_erected < 1920” — to study Victorian marble weathering patterns.
• “Map all is_zinc = TRUE points and buffer 1 meter to assess mounting/settlement issues.”
• “Join the monument layer to burial registry tables by name_on_marker and burial_date to create a searchable, name-indexed map.”
• “Temporal change detection: overlay photos from 2015, 2020, 2025 to automatically flag monuments with new tilt/fallen status.”
• “Slope/DEM analysis: identify plot areas with slope > X degrees where erosion or soil movement threatens stones.”

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Practical GIS tips & file management

• Coordinate Reference System (CRS): capture GPS in WGS84 (EPSG:4326), but store and perform local spatial analysis in an appropriate projected CRS for Tennessee (e.g., NAD83 / Tennessee State Plane or UTM zone that minimizes distortion) when you need accurate area/length measurements.
• Attribute templates: use consistent field names (snake_case or camelCase) and controlled vocabularies (e.g., a fixed list of materials) to keep queries reliable.
• Photo & video linking: store media files with filename conventions that match feature_ID or include timestamps; keep a CSV or GeoPackage attribute that lists the media filenames so a map click can open the photo or jump to the time in the drive-through video.
• Backups: keep raw video and original GPX tracks (uncompressed where possible) and create web-friendly derivatives (MP4, simplified GeoJSON/GPX) for publication.
• Public export: consider publishing a sequence of KMZ/GeoJSON files and a CSV index for other researchers along with the site’s permission.

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Forest Hills Cemetery: communities and industrial past visible in stone

Walking Forest Hills, you’ll see the social layering in funerary art:

• Veterans’ memorials: there are many veteran markers.
• Industrial families & fraternal stones: the rise of Chattanooga’s manufacturing and rail era is reflected in obelisks, ledger-style stones for prominent families, and many fraternal emblems (Masonic, Woodmen of the World). The materials chosen, often marble for 19th-century Victorian markers and granite later, echo the economics of the era and local stone/transport availability.
• Ethnic and community histories: Forest Hills contains burials from across Chattanooga’s social history, including Reconstruction-era African American sections that document once-segregated burial practices. Such patterns should be recorded sensitively and with reference to local office records.

Mapping these social layers by veteran status, fraternal membership, material type, and erecting date lets researchers visualize how the community’s funerary landscape reflects Chattanooga’s industrial and social history.

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Why publish this work on TheCemeteryDetective.com?

A well-organized public archive (video + map + downloadable GPX/GeoJSON + searchable CSV of monuments) does three things:

1. Preserves a temporal snapshot (how Forest Hills looked in 2025).
2. Provides spatially precise references for genealogists and conservators.
3. Enables research queries (e.g., find all zinc markers, list all marble markers erected before 1900, or show areas where canopy cover may be harming stones).

Forest Hills Cemetery, given its founding date, scale, and visible memorial types, is particularly well-suited to this kind of combined preservation work.

Demonstrating what is Possible

A full-scale Temporal and Geospatial Documentation project requires a significant commitment of resources and coordination from cemetery management. My visit to Forest Hills Cemetery in Chattanooga represents a focused effort to demonstrate what is possible when technology and historical preservation meet. During my time in Forest Hills, I recorded a complete visual record using a roof-mounted GoPro camera while simultaneously capturing temporal and geospatial data via GPS. Together, these data form a lasting digital archive. It is a snapshot (video) of the cemetery’s layout, demography, and pathways as they exist today. In the years to come, as landscapes evolve and headstones weather, this record will stand as a vital reference point for researchers, genealogists, and future caretakers dedicated to preserving the memory and material heritage within Forest Hills Cemetery.

References:
Find A GraveForest Hills Cemetery in Chattanooga, TennesseeLocated in St. Elmo at the foot of Lookout Mountain, Forest Hills Cemetery was established in 1880 by a group led by Colonel Abraham Malone Johnson.

taphotourist.comForest Hills Cemetery by The TaphotouristForest Hill’s historical graves boast scores of Civil War veterans, industrialists, Reconstruction Era African Americans (when graves were still segregated – a …

thecemeterytraveler.blogspot.comChattanooga and Forest Hills CemeteryJul 17, 2015 — There was the singular large zinc monument among the granite and marble. There were twin, life-sized marble angels flanking a giant column.

foresthillscemetery.netScanned Document – Forest Hills CemeteryMAP OF. FOREST HILLS CEMETERY. PROPERTY OF. FOREST HILLS CEMETERY ASSOCIATION. CHATTANOOGA TENNESSEE … www.foresthillscemetery.net.

foresthillscemetery.netForest Hills Cemetery – ChattanoogaLocated in St. Elmo at the foot of Lookout Mountain, Forest Hills Cemetery was established in 1880 by a group led by Colonel Abraham Malone Johnson. Forest …

adventuresincemeteryhopping.comTaking a Spring Stroll in Chattanooga’s Forest Hills …Jun 7, 2019 — Rare White Bronze Marker. The last marker I wanted to talk about is this white bronze (zinc) one, a rarity in a Southern cemetery. Finding …

adventuresincemeteryhopping.comJune | 2019 | Adventures in Cemetery …Jun 14, 2019 — It’s called Guess Who’s in the Mausoleum. While doing research on Forest Hills Cemetery’s mausoleums, I found myself eye-deep in this game.

thecemeterydetective.comForest Hills Cemetery – Chattanooga, TennesseeApr 2, 2014 — Monument at Forest Hills Cemetery – Chattanooga, Tennessee Forest Hills Monument … – A Zinc Grave Marker! Florence City Cemetery – YOU WON’T RUN …

thecemeterydetective.comCemetery Discoveries – Page 8 of 11Nestled within the Lookout Mountain foothills, Forest Hills Cemetery is easily one of the most interesting cemeteries in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Whenever I am …

tngenweb.orgForest Hills CemeteryForest Hills Cemetery was founded in 1880 and is in use to the present day. It covers approximately 100 acres. It has over 43,000 recorded burials with space …

tngenweb.orgForest Hills Cemetery, Hamilton Co. TNMar 1, 2008 — Longitude, -85.323013. Elevation, 715. USGS map, Chattanooga. Location, 4016 Tennessee Ave., Chattanooga. Recorder. Access. Upkeep. Size. Survey …

tngenweb.orgForest Hills CemeteryMar 25, 2006 — Forest Hills Cemetery is three miles south of Chattanooga at the foot of Lookout Mountain. It was incorporated in 1885 by the late Col. AM Johnson.

mapquest.comForest Hills Cemetery, 4016 Tennessee Ave, Chattanooga …Get more information for Forest Hills Cemetery in Chattanooga, TN. See reviews, map, get the address, and find directions.

findagrave.comForest Hills Cemetery (Chattanooga, TN)Forest Hills Cemetery. Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee, USA. Plot info: Section P, Lot 175. Lena Laurens Ferguson Freeman Flowers have been left.

waze.comDriving directions to Forest Hills Cemetery, 4016 …4016 Tennessee Ave, Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. Open in Waze. (423) 821-4161 · foresthillscemetery.net. Closed now. Sunday08:00 – 18:00.

causeiq.comForest Hills Cemetery Association | Chattanooga, TNAddress: 4016 Tennessee Ave: Chattanooga, TN 37409 ; Metro area: Chattanooga, TN-GA ; County: Hamilton County, TN ; Website URL: foresthillscemetery.net/ ; Phone: ( …

tripadvisor.comForest Hills Cemetery, ChattanoogaForest Hills Cemetery is a very large cemetery located near the bottom of Lookout Mountain in the St. Elmo neighborhood district.

wikitree.comCategory: Forest Hills Cemetery, Chattanooga, TennesseeJan 1, 2023 — Name: Forest Hills Cemetery. Location: Category: Chattanooga, Tennessee. Address: 4016 Tennessee Avenue, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 37409.

By Keith Harper – The Cemetery Detective

After weeks of slow travel through the Southern lowlands, I arrived at Bonaventure Cemetery by way of the old river road, winding along the fringes of Savannah, Georgia. 

My car, a modified 2015 Honda Accord that I have come to call the Hondaminium, carried all my necessary provisions: sleeping platform, boots, books, kayak strapped on top, a notebook of my geological field drawings, and a laptop computer filled with video and photos and GIS Maps from my prior cemeteries. It is a humble vessel, but it has taken me across this continent and into the quiet corners where stone and memory meet.

In no way would I ever compare my wanderings to those of John Muir, but in some ways, he inspires the paths I take. John Muir was a great naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club. He was not just a mountaineer of the western ranges but a wandering philosopher of the American landscape. In 1867, after a factory accident left him temporarily blind, he set off on foot from Indiana to the Gulf of Mexico, seeking healing in the wild. With a handmade plant press and a tattered copy of Paradise Lost, he walked over 1,000 miles alone, penniless, often sleeping beneath trees or in abandoned cabins. His journal from that journey, later published as A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf, is a blend of scientific observation, spiritual reflection, and poetic wonder. One chapter, “Camping Among the Tombs,” describes six nights he spent in Bonaventure Cemetery, then a largely forgotten tract of live oaks and old gravestones on the edge of Savannah. Far from finding it morbid or melancholy, Muir saw in Bonaventure a sublime harmony between life and death, nature and memory. It is this chapter, and that sense of reverent curiosity, that I carried with me on my own visit.

I arrived at Bonaventure Cemetery on a warm, still morning. The air tasted faintly of salt and pine. Great arms of live oak stretched over the road, their limbs clothed in Spanish moss and resurrection ferns. I passed ragged fields, broken fences, and a series of stilt-legged cottages near the water. Just beyond, the forest seemed to open, and I knew I had arrived.

The gates of Bonaventure stood solemn yet inviting. I parked beneath a canopy of green and began my walk.

The ground was soft and littered with pine needles and camellia petals. Oaks, magnolias, and palmettos formed groves around the family plots, their trunks straight and noble as stone columns. Muir once wrote, “One can hardly think of another place where the natural and the supernatural seem so lovingly entwined.” I found it to be just so. Nature was not in conflict with the dead here; it walked hand in hand with them.

I wandered slowly, as I always do in these places, letting my attention fall equally on the botanical and the sepulchral. My interest in graveyards is not born of morbidity, but of inquiry. I am a student of geology by inclination, and of cemeteries by profession. I believe every gravestone tells a dual story; one of the person it memorializes, and another of the earth it was carved from.

Many of the oldest monuments in Bonaventure are made of marble, that metamorphic product of pressure and time, beloved by sculptors for its softness and by mourners for its elegance. But marble is a delicate stone in humid air. Acid rain and salt drift from the river cause it to sugar breaking it down into powdery grains that slough away with the years. As I examined a white marble headstone adorned with an angel now almost faceless, I saw the inscription was worn smooth. Only the outline of the angel’s wing remained to hint at the stonecutter’s intent. A slow and silent erosion, like memory fading.

Farther along I found granite markers, darker and more stoic. Their inscriptions were sharp still with biotite and quartz reflecting the midmorning light. Granite does not sugar, though it may crack. It is igneous, born of ancient heat and cooling deep within the crust. These stones, quarried in Georgia or Vermont or sometimes as far away as India, will likely outlast the names they carry.

Each monument I came upon presented a different combination of material and meaning. A column broken midway to symbolize a life cut short. A weeping willow carved in relief upon slate. A clasped hand, the fingers gently parting. These symbols are not idle ornaments, they are languages I strive to interpret, which still speak for those long gone.

Bonaventure is not a place of fear. It is a place of stillness and story. As Muir observed in his own visit here over 150 years ago, “the few graves are low and in no way interrupt the general flow of the forest floor.” Life persists. Resurrection ferns curl and unfurl on tree limbs. Mockingbirds call from the thickets. The dead rest not beneath but within the rhythm of the landscape.

At one quiet bend in the path, I stopped and stood for a long time, staring into a dense pocket of shrubbery beyond a weathered family plot. The sun filtered in through the moss, and for a moment, the cemetery fell utterly silent. I imagined Muir here, weary from the road, swatting at mosquitoes, settling down amid the roots and stones. He wrote that he chose Bonaventure as a place to sleep because it was safer than the surrounding wilderness, yet awoke to find his head resting on a freshly dug grave. The image clung to me. As I stood among the brush, I could almost see him lying there, curled among the palmettos, journal clutched to his chest.

Later that afternoon, I unstrapped my kayak from the roof of the Hondaminium and carried it down to the nearby water’s edge. I paddled through narrow inlets where cypress knees broke the water’s surface and egrets stalked the reeds. The Wilmington River, wide and flat, moved lazily past the cemetery’s bluff. I drifted beneath the very trees I had stood among that morning, their roots braced in mud, their limbs catching wind and whisper.

It felt right to trace the edge of the graveyard by water. Water, like time, wears down even the hardest stone. And like grief, it cannot be held still.

That night, I returned to my car. I prepared a modest supper from my cooler and reclined the seat to re-read John Muir’s chapter by headlamp. I thought of Muir sleeping among the tombs, wrapped in the scent of earth and fallen leaves. I could not bring myself to unroll my bedroll within the cemetery gates because the times and laws are different now, but I car-camped nearby, safe in my Hondaminium tucked beneath an oak on a tree-lined street. As I unfolded my mattress on my sleeping platform with my head resting cozily on a soft, cool pillow, I thought about Muir resting his head on a freshly dug grave, and in spirit I shared the same peace as John did.

Bonaventure had given me what it had given Muir: a quiet place to study, to wonder, and to reconnect with the simple fact that we, too, will return to the elements from which we came. Stone, soil, water, breath.

In the morning, I walked once more beneath the arching oaks, their limbs still heavy with moss and memory. I took no souvenirs, only notes and a few final photographs, though none could capture what lingered in the air. My footprints, soft upon the pine needles, were soon erased by the breeze. The cemetery remained as I had found it: solemn, sun-dappled, and quietly alive. As I turned back toward the road, I thought of Muir rising from his earthen bed, brushing off the dew, and continuing his thousand-mile walk. I had come by car, not by foot, and stayed just a short while, yet I, too, left changed. In Bonaventure, among the tombs and trees, we had both found something enduring; not death, but the echo of life, layered in stone and soil, whispering still.

How do you spell it?
CEMETARY or CEMETERY

How do you spell it? Do you spell the word CEMETARY or CEMETERY?

Although all authoritative references spell the word with 3 Es, I see many examples of the word being spelled CEMETARY online and on signs. In fact, I see reference the the “A” spelling of the word that I simply think of it as a variant spelling.

Where did this spelling originate?

Dictionary.com states the word is Late Latin originating from a Greek word meaning “A Sleeping Place.” According to that reference, the word is spelled with 3 Es.

Although the book stephen king pet sematary“>Pet Sematary includes “A”s, Stephen King is not to blame for the single “A” spelling variant. In fact, I’ve seen references to the word “Cemetary” predating the 1981 release of the book.

I am an occasional poster on the message system called “Reddit.” It’s funny to read online message boards where someone mistakenly misspells the word only to be chastised by other members of the forum or by spelling “bots” that make suggestions on the correct spelling…sometimes rather rudely.

Does Cemetary(sic) Spelling Matter?

Irrespective of how anyone spells the word, I never take offense at simple misspellings because I know the intended use of the word. Besides, I’ve never been a perfect speller, myself. The only time it spelling (really) matters to me is when you type in my website address. But, then, you can simply Google “The Cemetery Detective.“
By following the Google links, you will be able to find the following sources:
– The Cemetery Detective Website
– My YouTube Channel with over 70 Cemetery Research videos.
– The Cemetery Detective’s Facebook Page.
– Or my Twitter Channel dealing with Cemeteries.

Do you have instances of signs with “Cemetery” written on an official sign of a cemetery? I would like to hear about them or see photos. You can contact me directly via my Contact Form.

Here are a few photos of “Cemetary” I’ve taken recently:

In today’s episode of The Cemetery Detective, Keith explores the cemeteries around Sewanee, Tennessee searching for Sandstone Grave Markers.

Geology and Cemetery Research

In my mind, cemetery research and geology go hand-in-hand. Understanding geology helps me understand the types of and the uses of certain gravestone materials.

Sewanee, Tennessee lies high atop the Cumberland Plateau. The Cumberland Plateau is geologically significant. With a natural sandstone cap, sandstone is locally abundant. Because of this availability, grave monument artists have used local sandstone for generations.

Not all sandstone is the same. Area sandstone comes in several varieties. The various strata include:
Rockland Conglomerate
Vandever Formation
2 Forms of Coal
Newton Sandstone
Whitwell Shale
Richland Coal
Sewanee Sandstone

Each layer has different properties based on color and granulation. Therefore some sandstone is better suited for building material and some stone is more conducive to use in gravestones.

Liesegang Rings on Sandstone Grave Markers

An aesthetic component of many sandstone is the formation of Liesegang Rings. Monument experts simply refer to these rings as “Swirls.” Liesegang Rings are formed when and Iron-rich fluid percolates through the stone after it has hardened. The more intricate the swirl pattern the more aesthetically appealing the stone.

Limestone Gravestones

Below Sewanee’s sandstone cap lies a vast layer of limestone. Since most river water is slightly (weakly) acidic, limestone dissolves into the water. This action, over millions of years, forms caves and valleys.

Buggy Top Cave is an ideal example of a limestone cave which has been dissolved by penetrating groundwater. The limestone in the area also lends to its use as a gravestone in local cemeteries. I will be exploring more about Limestone Gravestones in the Tennessee Valley in an upcoming Cemetery Research Documentary.

Cemeteries Visited

In today’s video, I explored many cemeteries in and around Sewanee.
They include:
Martin Cemetery
Unknown Cemetery
Monteagle Cemetery
Eastern Star Cemetery
University Cemetery
O’Dear Cemetery
St. Mary’s Convent Cemetery
Wise Cemetery
Sherwood Cemetery

To understand the natural occurrence of sandstone in Sewanee, I visited: Sewanee Natural Arch
Buggy Top Trail
Buggy Top Cave

I learned a tremendous amount about sandstone from experts who patiently shared their knowledge with me.

Some of the knowledge I gleaned from experts include information on Liesegang Rings, sources of sandstone, and the physical work in forming of a gravestone.

Support my Cemetery Research

If you enjoy my cemetery research, please support my efforts:
https://www.TheCemeteryDetective.com/support

We have just finished a day-long tour of Cincinnati Cemeteries at the 2016 Association for Gravestone Studies.

It’s such an educational experience spending time with such knowledgeable and well educated cemetery researchers. I have lots of note and will be sharing information with you in the future.

Here’s a quick time-lapse video from one of today’s cemeteries.