Hufstedler Gravehouse | |
Nearest city | Linden, Tennessee |
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Coordinates | 35°33′58″N 87°49′27″W / 35.56611°N 87.82417°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 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]