The City’s Oldest Neighbors

Elmwood Cemetery has been part of Memphis since 1852, and it holds more of the city’s history than almost anywhere else. I had driven past the old bridge at its entrance plenty of times before I finally crossed it.

The grounds feel more like a park than a cemetery, with old trees, crepe myrtles in bloom, and the little cottage that still welcomes visitors at the gate. Some of the most powerful names in Memphis rest here. So does Robert R. Church Sr., who was born enslaved and went on to become one of the wealthiest Black men in the South.

Under one of the stone rotundas, the words “Life, Death, Then Life and Love Eternal” are carved overhead. A place like this makes you slow down, and that line stayed with me long after I left.