Hufstedler Gravehouse

Hufstedler Gravehouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Nearest city	Linden, Tennessee
Coordinates	35°33′58″N 87°49′27″W / 35.56611°N 87.82417°W / 35.56611; -87.82417
Area	less than one acre
Built	1885 (1885)
NRHP reference No.	87001038[1]
Added to NRHP	June 25, 1987

Hufstedler Gravehouse or Pinckney's Tomb is a grave shelter, or grave house, near Linden, Tennessee, that is considered to be the largest grave house in the U.S. state of Tennessee.^[2] It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The grave house is a limestone and wood structure that covers the burial site of local farmer Pinckney Hufstedler and members of his family. It was originally built as a graveyard for about 10 to 12 burials, surrounded by a wall of cut stone almost 5 feet (1.5 m) high. Wooden walls and a roof were added because of Pinckney Hufstedler's fears that water could get into his tomb.^[3] Hufstedler also asked that his body be transported to the burial site in a wagon drawn by white oxen, rather than mules.^[2]

The structure is deemed to be a rare example of vernacular rural cemetery architecture of the 19th century.^[3] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.^[1] In 2009, the Tennessee Preservation Trust listed it as one of the state's ten most endangered historic sites, noting that the foundation was beginning to fail.^[3][4]

References

External links

• Hufstedler Gravehouse at Find a Grave