Hollywood Cemetery

Hollywood Cemetery is part history lesson, part sculpture park and part scenic overlook. Designed in the 1840s as a rural garden cemetery in the picturesque tradition then fashionable in America, it spreads across rolling, wooded hills above the James River, with winding lanes, mature oaks and magnolias, ornate monuments and dramatic views of the rapids and downtown skyline. Free to enter and open daily during daylight, it is a peaceful place to walk, and it is also the final resting place of an extraordinary roster of Virginians. Two United States presidents are buried here, James Monroe and John Tyler, along with Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Confederate generals including J.E.B. Stuart and George Pickett, and thousands of Confederate soldiers. A granite pyramid, about ninety feet high and built by veterans in the 1860s, rises over the soldiers' section. Other graves include authors, governors, artists and civic leaders, and the section for early Black Richmonders and the story of the cemetery's segregated past add important complexity to the tour.

The cemetery's own volunteers and staff run walking and trolley tours throughout the year, and these are worth taking if you want names and stories to attach to the stones. Without a guide, pick up a map at the entrance gate and choose a route. Many visitors begin at the presidents' section, then continue to the pyramid, follow the lanes toward the river overlook and finish with the iron dog statue and the legend of the child's grave that locals love to retell.

Local folklore also includes the supposed Richmond Vampire of 1925, a tale that adds a little spooky spice to evening events during the Halloween season.

Hollywood sits just west of downtown, beside the Oregon Hill neighborhood and close to Belle Isle and Maymont, so it fits naturally into a day of outdoor sightseeing. For history lovers, it offers a more reflective view of Virginia's past than the museums can, with the physical landscape of memory and loss in the Civil War era. For others, it is simply one of the most beautiful, atmospheric green spaces in the city, and an excellent place to catch the golden-hour light over the James.

Interpreting the cemetery thoughtfully is part of the visit. It was designed in a period when rural cemeteries doubled as public parks, so families picnicked among the graves, and its landscape still reflects that Victorian approach to mourning and memory. Monuments here honor many different people, including soldiers, enslaved and free Black residents, writers, merchants and children, and the symbolism on the stones, from weeping willows to broken columns, rewards close looking. Take your time, read the inscriptions and consider joining a docent-led tour for the stories that never make it into the guidebooks.

Consider timing a visit for late afternoon, when the light on the river is golden and the crowds are thin. Bring a bottle of water and wear a hat in summer, since shade is patchy on the higher slopes. Drivers can follow the one-way lanes slowly, but walking gives a more intimate view.