Oak Hill Cemetery is located at 1120 19th Street North, Birmingham, Jefferson Co., AL. A number of ancestors and relatives of Susan Wildsmith Dowdey are buried here, including members of the Wildsmith, Seay and Arnold familes. Some of the sites can be seen in the pictures attached at the end of this article. Block 2, Lot 19 "Arnold," and Block 7, Lot 51.5N "Weaver" have a number of Arnold, Saey and Wildsmith interments.
In 1871 the City of Birmingham purchased from the Elyton Land Company 21.5 acres of land for a city cemetery (later named Oak Hill). The deed was issued December 29, 1873. As the first city cemetery, Oak Hill became the resting place for virtually all of the Birmingham pioneers.
Although the early residents complained that Oak Hill Cemetery (then known as City Cemetery) was too far from town, the city center has expanded to the Southern border of the cemetery. Its location on the South-facing slopes of North Birmingham offer some of the most spectacular vistas of the city. So much so, that Pioneer citizen Charles Linn was reported to have stated: "O ye of little Faith! When I die, bury me on the high promontory overlooking Birmingham, so that on Judgment Day I will gaze upon the greatest industrial city in the entire South!"
Oak Hill Cemetery has been placed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage. Oak Hill Cemetery was also placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 13, 1977. It was the first cemetery in the State of Alabama to be listed on this prestigious register.
