Woodlawn Memorial Park is one of the largest cemeteries in Nashville, known as a site where many prominent country music personalities are buried including Porter Wagoner, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, and Eddy Arnold. It is located 660 Thompson Lane, a site rich in history. The land was originally a Revolutionary War land grant of 968 acres given to John Topp in 1788,[1] eight years before Tennessee became a US state. In 1836 it became known as "Melrose" when US Senator Alexander Barrow purchased it and built a fine mansion with that name. The property served as a field hospital in 1865 during American Civil War Battle of Nashville.[1] The site was established as a cemetery in the 1930s, and in 1993 the property, then reduced to 205 acres, was acquired by Roesch-Patton Corporation.[1]
Among those interred or entombed in the cemetery, there are many prominent members of Nashville's country music industry. In June 2018, Woodlawn installed the "Lynn Anderson Rose Garden", consisting of 200 Lynn Anderson Hybrid Rose Bushes (named for the singer by the National Rose Society of America), as a place of reflection and meditation in honor of the star's signature song.[2][3]