The Shiloh Baptist Church cemetery is on the edge of the Henderson Community in Houston County. At one point, it was known as the Henderson Community Cemetery. The cemetery features some interesting markers and burial styles.
When I first fell in love with cemeteries, I was always looking for impressive Victorian influenced markers. While I still love them, my interest has expanded to document vernacular markers. Folk art in headstones always interests me. I always wonder about the person being memorialized and the person who made the marker. The makers are often lost to history.
The Joiner Cemetery sits on the edge of farmland. Outside of traditional markers that can be seen in any cemetery, there are several folk art headstones where a sawtooth pattern can be seen. The letter stamping is all very similar.
As many of the markers are in poor condition, it’s important that these headstones are documented before they are lost forever.
This cemetery was at the end of a very long dirt road. I had put it on my list to visit after seeing an image of Matthew Cadwell’s marker. His epitaph reads, “Killed by lightning upon his horse.” I do not see it often, but I like documenting markers whenI do find ones that share how a person. It made be seen as macabre, but it has a bluntness that I appreciate.
Additionally, the cemetery had several folk headstones that seemed to be made of sandstone. Time is making them fade quicker than most markers.
The marker of Martha Griffin (1874-1933) utilizes marbles set in concrete for a handmade headstone. Folk art headstones using marbles can frequently be found in rural church cemeteries.
Founded in 1883, Oakwood Cemetery is the final resting place for many prominent members of Spartanburg. The cemetery is often referred as “Hell’s Gate Cemetery” for the oft-reported paranormal phenomena. Some claim a woman in white walks the grounds. It’s often listed as the most haunted cemetery in South Carolina.
The cemetery was vandalized, and a skull was removed from a coffin. It was returned a few weeks later.
It’s a lovely smaller town cemetery with some Victorian monuments.
Located in Buckhead, the New Hope AME church is an anomaly compared to the exclusive homes that run along Arden Road. The vernacular church resembles many Black churches in rural Georgia with the central gable and tower. The church was founded in 1869 by newly freedmen and women. James H. Smith, a white Buckhead farmer, donated three acres of land to the congregation to build a church and a school.
The original church building was destroyed by fire in 1927. The current building consists of a 1928 basement and a 1936 sanctuary.
The school burned in 1942.
The cemetery’s earliest burial is 1889. Since the cemetery photos were taken, the cemetery has been restored.
