During the Civil War, the 58th North Carolina Confederate Regiment was assigned to guard The Big Creek Gap of the Cumberland Mountains (now the towns of LaFollette & Jacksboro). The regiment suffered greatly through diseases in the bitter winter of 1862-63. Some 52 soldiers were buried in an old DeLap family cemetery overlooking the Powell Valley. Within that cemetery, the old American Beech (Fagus grandiflora) was carved with a slash for each of the soldiers interred there. Curiously, the tree also bears the carving of the word “Boothill”.

The graves were marked with jagged field stones or sunken plots and the cemetery was almost lost to neglect. In 2002 the Campbell County Historical Society re-discovered the cemetery and a five year project of effort began. The cemetery was thoroughly cleaned of brush and new markers were placed on the graves, after researching the regimental records on the identities of the soldiers. The beech was discovered still standing as a silent sentinel to the final resting place of these young men.

The cemetery is designated as a memorial Civil War Cemetery and stands on a hill overlooking the town of Jacksboro on DeLap Lane.

Nominated by the Campbell County Historical Society. Entered into the Landmark & Historic Tree Register in 2008 as a Historic Tree.