During the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878, the old cemetery located on the corner of Popular and Nelson Streets filled rapidly with burials taking place along the sides of the streets. The citizens determined that a new cemetery was needed some distance from the growing town and the caving banks of the Mississippi River. Approximately three acres on Greenway Plantation along Rattlesnake Bayou south of Greenville were donated for a new cemetery by the heirs of William Campbell Blanton. Richard A. O'Hea, a civil engineer, designed and laid out the cemetery in its unique wheel and spoke design. The new cemetery was named Greenway Cemetery after Greenway Plantation on which land the cemetery was located and the first burial was in 1879. The cemetery was incorporated in 1882 and the name changed to Greenville Cemetery. Since the cemetery's establishment, Greenway Plantation and Rattlesnake Bayou have long ago disappeared, the city of Greenville has engulfed the cemetery and spread several miles to the south and three additions have been added to the original cemetery. The Greenville Jewish Cemetery is adjacent to the Greenville Cemetery along its northern boundary.
