Cedar Grove Cemetery was established in 1831 as the first secular cemetery in the town of Portsmouth and is on the National Register of Historic Places. This Virginia historical site contains more than 4000 graves with monuments dating back to the late 1700s. The funerary art offers notable examples of Greek Revival, Exotic Revival, and Victorian styled monuments.
Notable among the dead who are buried here are John Porter, designer of America’s first Ironclad ship, Confederate General George Pickett, polar explorer William Murdaugh, and Father James Chisholm, a leader and chronicler of the Yellow Fever epidemic. As a Virginia historic site, this cemetery is closed to future burials. The site is listed on both the Virginia and National Registers of Historic Places.