Friends of Philips Sylvan Hall Cemetery

The cemetery is located on the Bess property. George Bess passed and his wife Dorothy no longer lives there. The house is now owned by their son Todd who is turning it into a airbnb. The narrow road that was used to drive up the Bess driveway up to the cemetery is partially blocked by a hedge and it is now necessary to park at the side of the driveway and walk up to the cemetery.

As a word of caution, if you visit the cemetery I advise applying bug repellent such as Off when you get out of the car. There are chigers in the grass that will make you miserable unless you use a bug repellent to discourage them.

This web site was first published in August 2019 for the purpose of spreading information about the Philips Sylvan Hall Cemetery's need for contributions and support to assure the maintenance of the cemetery for the next 200 years.

The Metro Historical Commission Foundation of Davidson County initiated a cemetery maintenance program in 2019 to manage the maintenance of historic cemeteries that had been restored and needed a tax-free organization to accept donations which they would also manage. The Philips Sylvan Hall Cemetery signed up for the program and collected donations beginning at the inception of the program.

While the donations were tax free to the Foundation, there was no interest paid on the money held by the foundation.

Thanks to all the Friends of Philips Sylvan Hall Cemetery for your donations in support of the ongoing maintenance of the cemetery.

The Metro Historical Commission Foundation decided to terminate the cemetery maintenance program late in 2022 as being beyond the capability of their organization. As a result, I will be managing the maintenance fund and directing the maintenance going forward.

One of the advantages of me managing the money is that we will be able to collect interest on money in the fund. On May 5 2023 I deposited $7,000 with an online bank, insured by FDIC, that has earned $82.82 as of 31 July, three months. At that rate we can expect to collect around $300 in one year.

The photos below were taken on 4 June 2013 at the Philips Sylvan Hall Cemetery. I had been trying to fight back the growth of weeds, vines, saplings, etc. since I discovered the existence of the Cemetery about 2002. Scroll down through these photos to see how bad the Cemetery was in 2013.

Now at 87 years of age I continue to need your help to keep the cemetery from falling back into the shape it was in in 2013.

It only takes about three years for the cemetery to return to the way it was in 2013 before the restoration. None of us want that to see that happen.