North Carolina Cemeteries

United States North Carolina  Cemeteries

Cemetery records, such as tombstones and sexton’s records, may give birth and death dates, age at death, name of spouse and children, and the maiden names. Sometimes they contain birthplace. Tombstones may have symbols or insignias indicating military service and social or religious affiliations. Family members may also be buried nearby.

Internet Tombstone Transcripts and Index

 * North Carolina Genealogy organizes online transcriptions by county and city]


 * Interment.net has a cemetery transcription library by county


 * Find a Grave has millions of grave records.

WPA Cemetery Index
As part of the Historical Records Survey, the federal government created a North Carolina Cemetery Inscription Card Index. This is commonly known as the WPA Cemetery Index. It is at the North Carolina State Archives and on microfilm at the Family History Library. The films are arranged alphabetically in two parts by the name of the person: one for burials before 1914 and another for burials after 1914.


 * Pre-194 Cemetery Survey


 * Pre-1914 Cemetery Inscription Card Index. Raleigh, North Carolina: North Carolina Department of Archives and History, 1972. A list of the cemeteries included in the indexes is found on microfilms 882942–43.


 * Post-1914 Cemetery Inscription Card Index. Raleigh, North Carolina: North Carolina Department of Archives and History, 1972.

Family History Library Collection

 * The Daughters of the American Revolution Genealogical Collection also contains tombstone inscriptions arranged by county from many North Carolina cemeteries.


 * Daughters of the American Revolution (North Carolina). Genealogical Collection. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1971. This collection includes family histories and transcripts of Bible, cemetery, church, will, marriage, death, and obituary records. The volumes are generally arranged by county, and many have individual indexes. There is a surname index to this collection.


 * Cemetery Records of North Carolina. 8 vols. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1947–1961.


 * McEachern, Leora H. Gravestone Records. 10 vols. Wilmington, North Carolina: L. H. McEachern, 1971–81.


 * North Carolina Cemetery Project. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1986. These records are alphabetical by surname within each cemetery. There are some death dates as late as 1961.


 * Welborn, Mrs. John Scott. North Carolina Tombstone Records. 3 vols. Highpoint, North Carolina: Mrs. J. S. Welborn, 1938


 * The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Family History Library (Salt Lake City, Utah). Index to United States Cemeteries. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988. 85 list cemeteries in North Carolina counties from Alamance to Yancey. This is an inventory of cemeteries, not an index to the names of individuals.

For more information on cemetery records, see United States Cemeteries. To find more sources in the Family History Library Catalog, use a Place Search under:

NORTH CAROLINA- CEMETERIES

NORTH CAROLINA, [COUNTY]- CEMETERIES

NORTH CAROLINA, [COUNTY], [TOWN]- CEMETERIES

General Information

 * Several periodicals have published inscriptions and inventories from North Carolina cemeteries. These are referenced in the "Places" section of the Periodical Source Index (PERSI), described in North Carolina Periodicals.