Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 11/21/1978
NRHP Listing Date 02/01/1979
NRHP Reference Number 79003099
Forty-two well-preserved German-style gravestones, similar to those found in lesser numbers and in poorer condition in several other outlying Lutheran cemeteries around Wytheville, survive in the Zion Church graveyard. Like the other markers of the region, the Zion group is composed of thick sandstone slabs carved on both sides and often decorated on the edges. The fanciest have undulating tops and faces carved with petaled flowers or pinwheel motifs, often framed by spiral pilasters. The inscriptions are in English, most in a flowing script. The stones seem to have been produced by a single carver between 1835 and 1840, some to replace earlier markers. Zion’s simple Gothic-style church was built in 1940 and is the third church on the site.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: October 7, 2021
