History

Green Hill Cemetery was organized and incorporated in March 1873 and opened in spring 1874 on twenty-nine acres.  The cemetery was designed and established to be a beautifully landscaped area for all of Franklin County and the surrounding communities to enjoy.  The unique design used the concept of creating ‘green space’ and a park-like setting.  This design concept evolved to ultimately take burial out of the churchyard.

In May of 1939, Green Hill Cemetery was donated to the Waynesboro Beneficial Fund Association.  The cemetery then became a non-profit organization with all of its earnings reserved for improvement and maintenance of the grounds.

During the 1920’s and 1930’s, the superintendent, Ferdinand Gilbert, established a topiary zoo on the cemetery grounds and along South Potomac Street.

The ‘zoo’ grew over the years to includes dozens of life-sized and larger-than-life animals, which became a local attraction.  The ‘Green Hill’ letters spelled out in privet plants by Mr. Gilbert is still maintained today as a tribute to this unique period of the cemetery’s history.

Today the cemetery consists of sixty-five acres, with seven miles of paved driveways, which allows convenient access to the nearly 17,000 interments.   A columbarium was added to Green Hill in 2005, with the surrounding landscaping and brick paving completed by Tom Hoffman as an Eagle Scout Project.

A three-tiered, cast iron fountain given to the cemetery in 1914 is currently being restored and will be relocated near the office just inside the north entrance off South Potomac Street.

In the summer of 2008, the Board of Managers undertook a major building project, which included a new 30’ x 60’ equipment building, renovation of an existing equipment garage, and a new office building.  These new facilities will help insure that the cemetery will be able to meet the future needs of the communities served.  It will also enable the staff to continue to provide the excellent care of the grounds for which it has been known, and is expected, by all who choose Green Hill as the final resting place for family and loved ones.