:Beechwood Cemetery (Durham, North Carolina)

{{Short description|Cemetery in Durham County, North Carolina}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox cemetery

| name = Beechwood Cemetery

| image = Christmas_plot_within_Beechwood_Cemetery.jpg

| imagesize = 200px

| caption = Tombstone, with White Rock Baptist Church in background.

| map_type =

| map_size =

| map_caption =

| established = 1924

| country = United States

| location = 3300 Fayetteville Street
Durham, North Carolina

| coordinates = {{coord|35.9592425|-78.9123009|format=dms|type:landmark_region:US|display=inline,title}}

| latitude =

| longitude =

| type =

| owner = City of Durham

| size =

| graves = >9,000

| website = [https://durhamnc.gov/737/Cemeteries-Management Official website]

|findagraveid= 46830

}}

Beechwood Cemetery is a city-owned cemetery in Durham, North Carolina, established in 1924 or 1926. Maplewood, the city's other public cemetery was historically white while Beechwood is historically black stemming from the city's segregation at their inception.{{Cite web |date=2022-10-05 |title=Beechwood Cemetery -- a historic public cemetery in Durham -- is quickly running out of space |url=https://abc11.com/beechwood-cemetery-maplewood-durham-black/12297949/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=ABC11 Raleigh-Durham |language=en}} It is the burial location of key Black figures in Durham's history.{{Cite web |date=2023-04-16 |title='Unaware of our beginnings": Preservation Durham plans tour of historic Beechwood Cemetery |url=https://abc11.com/preservation-durham-cemetery-tours-beechwood-history/13138380/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=ABC11 Raleigh-Durham |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=WRAL |date=2023-04-07 |title=With just 15 plots left, historic Durham cemetery gets cash to expand |url=https://www.wral.com/story/with-just-15-plots-left-historic-durham-cemetery-gets-cash-to-expand/20801540/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=WRAL.com |language=en}}

The five cemeteries, which Beechwood replaced when the city purchased 25 acres from R.L. McDougald, were mostly full and undermaintained.{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Jean Bradley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4gyxDsR0t7QC&dq=beechwood+cemetery+durham&pg=PA518 |title=Durham County: A History of Durham County, North Carolina |date=2011-05-09 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-4983-9 |pages=518 |language=en}}

An expansion was proposed in 2023 as the cemetery neared capacity.{{Cite web |last=WRAL |date=2023-09-25 |title=Durham cemetery at capacity to get $700K expansion; city looking at hybrid burial grounds |url=https://www.wral.com/story/durham-cemetery-at-capacity-to-get-700k-expansion-city-looking-at-hybrid-burial-grounds/21066639/ |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=WRAL.com |language=en}}

File:Beechwood Cemetery looking east.jpg|Looking east at multiple tombstones and a flagpole.

File:Whitted_plot_within_Beechwood_Cemetery.jpg|Plot of Nellie and James Whitted, overgrown by evergreens.