History

Established in 1906, Forest Lawn is the largest and most modern of Norfolk's eight municipal cemeteries. The City of Norfolk purchased a tract of property from George S. Bunting to create the cemetery. The land's original owners for generations, the Langley Family Burial Ground was included in this purchase and remains as a historical point of interest today with interments dating to the 1700s. Originally known as Evergreen Cemetery, the name was changed in April 1908 to give it a more modern name indicative of a place “in which Norfolk citizens will be proud to rest.”   

With more than 165 acres of land, Forest Lawn Cemetery is a natural arboretum that includes 70+ species of trees such as crape myrtles, black walnut trees, dogwoods, live oaks, Chinese fringe trees, and a variety of hollies and maples.  
 
Forest Lawn's history and natural beauty is rivaled only by the Art Deco era memorial architecture seen in community mausoleum designed by Sidney Lovell and erected in 1919. Lovell was a recognized Chicago architect who specialized in theatre design. The mausoleum is a fine example of Lovell's work, with ornately carved marble benches in the interior and a Frank Lloyd Wright skylight fashioned by the Temple Art Glass Company in Chicago, IL. Its exterior facade and interior furnishings are made of high quality Alabama marble. J.S. Heath Company, also of Chicago, IL, designed the mausoleum entryway and interior family room gates. 

There are several historical lots at Forest Lawn at which commemorative ceremonies are held on Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day including the Seaman's Friend Society Lot, the U.S. Army's 111th Field Artillery Battalion and 29th Infantry Division Memorial. The Seaman's Friend Society Lot is the final resting place for hundreds of foreign sailors who passed away at sea or upon arrival to our shores. The Seaman's Friend Society purchased the lot and paid for interment expenses to ensure a final place of honor. The U.S. Army's 111th Field Artillery Battalion and 29th Infantry Division Memorial honors soldiers who gave their lives during World War II in Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, and Central Europe from 1944-1945. 

Forest Lawn has single graves and lots available.  It is also home to a community mausoleum added in 2015.  

• The Forest Lawn office is open ONLY for funeral arrangements which require an appointment. 

• We do not offer WALK-IN services.

• All other services like grave locations, visit our website at www.norfolk.gov/cemeteries or call 757-441-1752

  
  

Aerial Photograph & Map

• View a map of the Forest Lawn Cemetery
• View an aerial photo of Forest Lawn Cemetery

Interment Information Online
The Norfolk Bureau of Cemeteries' interment database is now available online via WebCemeteries.com. The Bureau's database does not include obituaries or monument photographs.  USGenWeb Archives, a cooperative network of volunteers that provides genealogical information on the internet, provides many of these in its interment catalog of Forest Lawn Cemetery.  If you cannot locate an interment, please call 757-441-1752 or email for more information. 

 Cemetery Events, Volunteer Opportunities, Conservation Information
Click here for information about Norfolk Historic Cemeteries events, volunteer opportunities, and conservation information.