Greenlawn Cemetery: The first “Bury Ground” of Indianapolis

Join our monthly conversation with historians, researchers, and educators as we discuss topics related to Indiana’s Black heritage. Our speaker will be local historian, Leon Bates.

Greenlawn Cemetery, Indianapolis’s first cemetery, was a pioneer cemetery created as a public “Bury Ground” in 1821 by an act of the Indiana Legislature. Indianapolis has never had a black cemetery; although there are many around the state, the Indianapolis Bury Ground had a segregated “Colored Section.” Between 1821 and 1863, the cemetery grew to include three adjacent cemeteries totaling 25 acres. Greenlawn began to fall from favor with the rise of the rural cemetery movement of the late 1850s and 1860s; this led to the creation of the 555-acre Crown Hill Cemetery approximately four miles to the north. In 1890, the city declared the Bury Ground full and closed to burials, and by 1902, the other three sections were being condemned as well. Several redevelopments, including a park, baseball stadium, and slaughterhouse, the Traction Terminal Realty Company, and the Diamond Chain Manufacturing Company.

In 2023, a new developer acquired the site with a desire to construct a multi-use redevelopment with a 20,000-seat soccer stadium. The latest redeveloper of this site has the same problem that his predecessors faced: the discovery of human remains, many of them dating to the 1820s.

Event is free but registration is required. Click here to reserve your ticket.

• In Person: Doors open at 5:30 p.m. at Indiana Landmarks, 1201 N. Central Avenue, Indianapolis, IN and talk begins at 6:00 p.m.

• Online: Livestream will begin at 6:00 p.m.