Founded in 1843, Mt. Evergreen is the City of Jackson's oldest cemetery. Originally consisting of 11 acres, which were purchased from Eunice Dygert on August 18, 1843, the cemetery wasn't expanded to its now 25 acres until September 1, 1863, when 14 more acres to the south were purchased from James McNeil. Those acres were reorganized a year later, when, on August 10, 1864, Morrell Street was moved further north to create an area dedicated for the burial of soldiers. To this day, the annual Memorial Day parade ends at Mt. Evergreen's Soldier Field.

The Greenwood Wall was built in 1873, and was rebuilt more than a century later in 1980, using all original stones. The outside fence that surrounds the cemetery was a generous donation of the Reynolds family, who also completed the installation. All interment records, prior to 1917, were destroyed by a massive fire. Any records we have of those years were obtained and recreated from headstones.

Mt. Evergreen Cemetery was listed in the State Register of Historic Sites in 1988.