Category Archives: Cemeteries

-Georgia, Black History, Cemeteries

When Cemeteries Were Segregated, the Rest Haven Section of Atlanta’s Westview Cemetery

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Westview Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia, was founded in 1884. Like many cemeteries in the South, the cemetery was segregated. The Black section of Westview was called Rest Haven and was named after the Methodist Episcopal bishop, Bishop Gilbert Haven (1821-1880). Bishop Haven was an early supporter of Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University) and president of the Freedman’s Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Westview Cemetery was founded in 1884 after it was determined that the city’s Oakland Cemetery could not accommodate many more burials. The Rest Haven section is behind where the current office is through a dense thicket of trees and overgrowth. The state of the cemetery section has been problematic since the beginning. One of the founders of South-View Cemetery, Albert Watts Sr., could not find his father Sterling Watts’s grave. Tired of the lack of care in the segregated sections of cemeteries, Watts and others chose to open their own cemetery. With South-View Cemetery’s opening in April 1886, burials slowed significantly in Rest Haven. Many Black Atlantans opted to be buried in South-View.

The most significant marker belongs to the Hill, Leigh, and Trimble families. Captain Andrew Hill lead the colored volunteer infantry (similar to the National Guard) and worked for the Peters Company. Lula Hill was one of the founders of Central Church and President of the Foreign Missionary Society.

Mack Leigh (1865-1885)

Reverend Nicholas Jones was a grocer.

Sterling Kent was the son of Reverend Evarts and Helen Kent. He died of bronchitis at the age of 7 in 1886. Even though the Kent family is white, they chose to have their son buried here. Reverend Kent was a member of the American Missionary Association. He moved to Atlanta with his family. He and several others helped raise funds to start the Storrs School, one of the first schools for Black schoolchildren in Atlanta.

Annie Harris
Columbia Pullin (1853-1912)
Anna Pullin (1859-1946) with an Eldren Bailey marker
Julia Seay
Frances Saye (1831-1886)
Louvenia Robinson (1854-1923)
I don’t know if this is a concrete plot or row marker. There were a few throughout the section.

-Georgia, Black History, Cemeteries, Historic Photos, National Register of Historic Places

The Four Crypts of Martin Luther King, Jr.-Atlanta, Georgia

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Most people know that Martin Luther King, Jr. Was first buried in South-View Cemetery in Southwest Atlanta and then The King Center. He was entombed into four different crypts over time.

After his murder on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, the King family and the city of Atlanta quickly got ready for his funeral. On April 9th, his first crypt was used at South-view Cemetery. The crypt was created by the Roberts-Shields Memorial Company.

The new crypt after it was installed with Ebenezer Baptist Church in the background. (Photo is courtesy of The Atlanta Journal.)

After King’s death, Coretta Scott King immediately envisioned and founded The King Center. Land was identified and King was relocated on January 14, 1970. A new crypt was built by the same company.

The second crypt location has a fence and an eternal flame. (The photo is courtesy of the Georgia State University archives for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution).

The permanent dais was built in 1976 and the third crypt was constructed. Like the others, it was built out of Georgia marble.

The single crypt of Martin Luther King on the permanent dais. (Postcard image.)

When Coretta Scott King passed away in 2006, the Robert-Shields Memorial Company made the final double crypt.

Credit to Liz Clappin for providing the information on the Roberts-Shields Memorial Company.

-Georgia, Cemeteries, Churches and Temples, Vernacular Headstones

Mitchell Grove Baptist Church-Cuthbert, Georgia

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Mitchell Grove Baptist Church is located on a dirt road south of Cuthbert, Georgia. There is not much printed information on the church. According to FindAGrave, the earliest burial was in 1893. A historic resources survey indicates the church was built in 1894. I believe that is the structure that is in overgrowth. The double front doors and multiple windows on the side of the building indicate a church.

The single-tower white building is in good condition and is still used by the congregation. Obituaries indicate that the cemetery is still active and has remained active throughout the church’s history. The cemetery has a mixture of vernacular and commercial headstones.

Carrie Bankston Harper
Millie Nickson Died April 12, 1937
Plot of Sammie and Ossie Thomas
The double front doors of what could be the original church
While hard to see, several windows could be seen on either side of the church
-Georgia, -North Carolina, -South Carolina, -Tennessee, Abandoned, Cemeteries, Famous People, Hotels and Motels, Houses, National Register of Historic Places, Signs, Stores, Vernacular Headstones

The Year in Review-Top Ten Posts of 2024

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Thank you for joining me in my travels around the South. It’s been a great year of wandering backroads and a few main ones. If I learned anything, it is that people love abandoned houses, buildings with unexpected histories, and (in)famous graves.

Cleveland DeLuxe Cottages-A Georgia Motel with a Connection to the Cabbage Patch Kids
The Grave of Moses Harshaw-The Story of “The Meanest Man Alive” in Clarkesville, Georgia
The Krispy Kreme of Spartanburg, South Carolina
Lone Oak Motel in Toccoa, Georgia was the Final Home of R&B singer Dee Clark
Briarcliff, The Mansion of Asa “Buddie” Candler Jr. In Atlanta, Georgia
The Graves of The McCrary Twins-World’s Largest Twins
The James and Lily Gaines House of Adairsville, Georgia
The William Knight House-The First Lustron Built in Georgia Still Stands Today
The Tent Graves of Stamps Cemetery in Putnam County, Tennessee
Coca-Cola Building of Spartanburg, South Carolina
-Georgia, Cemeteries, National Register of Historic Places

In the Shadow of the Georgia Bulldogs, Oconee Hill Cemetery

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It is hard to miss Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia. It is next to the student center, residence halls, and academic buildings. If you drive along the backside of the stadium on East Campus Road, you will see Oconee Hill Cemetery.

Seventeen acres were purchased in 1855 for $1,000 to start a public cemetery. By 1896, all lots were sold and the need to expand over the Oconee River. The cemetery trustees worked with Athens city officials to build a bridge over the river. This allowed visitors to access the additional 82 acres.

Like many Southern town cemeteries, there were separate burial grounds for Black and white Athenians. The Historic Burial Grounds for African Americans runs along the back side of the original section, next to the river. More recently, it was used as the site to rebury the bones of enslaved people that were discovered when renovations to Baldwin Hall began. This decision received criticism as many Black community members preferred that the bones were relocated to Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery or Brooklyn Cemetery, two historic Black cemeteries in Athens.

Over the last decade, I have visited Oconee Hill Cemetery several times and always find something new to photograph. Outside of roaming the hills of the front section, people should visit Bulldog Haven, a section for UGA football letterman, and their families.

-Georgia, Cemeteries

Scoggins Grave House of Bartow County

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Patsy E Scoggins (1948-1952) was the first-born child of Glenn and Syble Scoggins. This brick grave house could loosely be called a dollhouse grave like Nadine Earles’s or Korry Gail Blackburn’s. Patsy’s age is close to Nadine and Korry’s, but it lacks some of these other graves’ embellishments. Earlier photos on FindAGrave indicate there were more decorations inside the house. It is well taken care of, like these other dollhouses.