The Rural Hill Burying Ground

On January 3, 1818, Violet Wilson Davidson was laid to rest at the base of Rural Hill, the grand home John and she had spent a lifetime establishing.

She was the first family member to be buried at Rural Hill in what would be named the Rural Hill Burying Ground.

In 1923 Edward Lee Baxter, the great-grandson of John and Violet, felt it fitting to construct an elaborate stone wall around his family’s final resting place.

The same type of structures were built at Hopewell Presbyterian Church, the entrance to Huntersville, located at the top end of Beatties Ford Road, and monuments to Rural Hill, located on the corner of Neck and Beatties Ford Road, and a monument at the battlefield site of Cowan’s Ford, on Highway 73.

In 2004, through a grant called SAVE OUR HISTORY awarded by The History Channel, students from Hornet’s Elementary School participated in a preservation project of photographing and documenting each grave marker within the Davidson cemetery.

Also included in their study project were rubbings made to capture the various symbols and markings on certain gravestones.

The students followed up with family interviews of living descendants and recorded their stories.

Once the information was compiled a brochure was printed as part of the Historic Charlotte Walking Tours Series. This brochure is available to visitors when they come to tour Rural Hill.

Interesting Points About the Burying Ground:

• John Davidson, American Patriot and signer of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence is buried here.
   

• The stone front step from the house which General Lord Cornwallis had his headquarters when the British Army occupied Charlotte is located here.
   

• Dr. W. Sinclair Davidson, first surgeon in the state of North Carolina to successfully complete the removal of the gall bladder is buried here.
   

• Each year at the Loch Norman Highland Games a worship service is held inside the walls of the burying ground.

If you would like a free copy of the Rural Hill Burying Grounds Walking Tour please email us at: office@ruralhill.net or call us at 704-875-3113 or simply come out to visit us.

Special Notes:

• The cemetery is maintained through the Davidson Family Trust.
   

• Visitors are welcome during daylight hours.
   

• We ask that you enter this hallowed ground with reverence.

Thank you.