Greensboro promotes cemetery as a tourist attraction

Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison and Frédéric Chopin are all buried in the famous Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris and the city uses that cemetery as a tourist attraction, but it’s not so clear that the city of Greensboro will have the same luck in that regard.

The city produces an electronic newsletter called “The Gist,” and in a recent edition, under the headline “Tourist in Your Town,” the city offers the City of Greensboro’s Green Hill Cemetery as a tourist attraction so that people on can be informed of its charms.

For example, there is no Oscar Wilde buried there, but there is the first marketer of Vicks VapoRub, and there are no musicians from The Doors, but there is the person who founded our local Audubon Society and founded the early hospitals of Greensboro.

As far as tourist attractions go, it’s quite affordable: for just $5 per person you can take a tour that will teach you all kinds of local history. All funds also raised support improvements for the 51-acre cemetery adjacent to the northern edge of downtown. Green Hill Cemetery was established in the late 19th century.

And it’s not just about the famous deceased buried in Greensboro. It’s also about living trees: during the tour you can identify dozens of native and special trees along the way.

You can also: “Enjoy historical and botanical tours, walk leashed dogs, view gravestones, admire unique monuments, bird watch, identify hundreds of trees/shrubs, read, rest on benches, take your picnic to the central gathering area and just wander.”

According to The Gist, all “respectful explorations” are encouraged by Friends of Green Hill Cemetery, a group of volunteers that began about a decade and a half ago “to welcome the living to this peaceful public area.”

In fact, the group is currently looking for volunteers, and if Vicks VapoRub enthusiasts from across the country are flocking to Greensboro to pay tribute as word gets out, then the Friends of Green Hill Cemetery will undoubtedly need many more volunteers.

For more information, visit www.FriendsOfGreenHillCemetery.org and join Friends of Green Hill Cemetery on Facebook.