First Presbyterian Church Cemetery | |
 First Presbyterian Church Cemetery, with the church in the background | |
| Location | Adjacent to 620 State St. Knoxville, Tennessee |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 35°57′51″N 83°54′58″W / 35.9643°N 83.9161°W |
| MPS | Knoxville and Knox County MPS |
| NRHP reference No. | 96001400 |
| Added to NRHP | December 4, 1996 |
The First Presbyterian Church Graveyard is the oldest graveyard in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Established in the 1790s, the graveyard contains the graves of some of Knoxville's most prominent early residents, including territorial governor and Constitutional Convention delegate William Blount and Knoxville founder James White.[1] In 1996, the graveyard was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
While platting Knoxville with his son-in-law, Charles McClung, in 1791, White ordered at least one lot to be set aside for a church and cemetery. The cemetery spot may have been used as early as the 1780s for burials, and the cemetery contained several graves by 1799, but the earliest marker is Blount's, dated 1800.[1] While the First Presbyterian congregation was active in the 1790s, the first church was not built on the site until 1816. The graveyard was used for burials for nearly sixty years, its most active period being during the Epidemic of 1838, in which hundreds of Knoxvillians died from an unidentified illness.[1]