Oakdale Cemetery, Rural cemetery in Wilmington, US.

Oakdale Cemetery is a rural cemetery in Wilmington, North Carolina, covering 65 acres east of Burnt Mill Creek. It contains an enclosed Hebrew Cemetery from 1855, a Masonic section, an Odd Fellows section, and a section for those with no other family. A circular mound topped by a bronze statue of a Confederate soldier, dedicated in 1872, marks the graves of unknown soldiers from the Second Battle of Fort Fisher.

Citizens bought a 65-acre tract east of Burnt Mill Creek because Wilmington's existing cemeteries were becoming crowded. The first interment was six-year-old Annie DeRosset on February 5, 1855; her father John DeRosset, a physician, served as the cemetery corporation's first president. An enclosed Hebrew Cemetery dates from 1855, and after an 1886 fire burials from Front Street Methodist Church were moved here.

The grounds include a Hebrew section that reflects the Jewish community present in Wilmington during the 1800s. You can see how different groups maintained separate areas while coexisting in the same place.

Wear sturdy shoes as you walk the winding paths across the grounds, which can become slippery in wet weather. The office staff can provide information about grave locations and help you find specific memorials.

A bronze statue of a regular soldier stands atop a large circular stone base on a burial mound for Confederate dead from the Second Battle of Fort Fisher. The 1872 plaque records 550 honored unknown dead, while the University of North Carolina notes that as many as 367 unknown soldiers lie beneath the mound.