KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Established in 1850, Old Gray Cemetery sits on 13 acres in North Knoxville, and a large portion of Knoxville’s history is buried six feet below the surface.

Russell Kuhlman, president of the Old Gray Cemetery Board of Trustees, is happy to share the history with visitors.

“Our goal is to preserve, protect and promote the cemetery, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job doing that,” he said. “It’s history, and you can’t change history, but you can study it and learn from it, and you learn a lot just walking through.”

Over 9,000 people are buried at Old Gray, and the oldest grave on the campus is from 1851, when William Martin was buried after being killed by a cannon explosion during a Fourth of July celebration on Asylum Hill.

Most of the headstones are plai

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