Atlanta, Fulton County

Located in southwest Atlanta, there is quite a large cemetery lost into a hill of a neighborhood. It’s been identified as the Dudley Cemetery. Based on old obituaries, it seems to have a tie to the Philadelphia Baptist Church due the frequency of notices that indicated services at the church and burial at the cemetery.
From the base of cemetery, a dozen or so headstones can be seen. There are many depressions in the earth. I would guess over 100 burials are hidden in the hillside.
If you go, don’t trespass. It is privately owned land. I went with someone who knows one of the owners.
Completed in 1910, the Herndon Home was the residence of Alonzo Herndon and his family. Herndon was the first Black millionaire in Atlanta, and one of the first in the United States. He built his wealth by running several successful barbershops in Atlanta and starting the Atlanta Family Life Insurance Company.
Herndon was born into slavery in 1858 in Social Circle, Walton County, Georgia. After Emancipation, he left Social Circle and began work as a farmhand and learned how to barber in Jonesboro, Georgia.
He eventually moved to Atlanta where he began his barbershop business. He helped save a mutual aid association which eventually evolved into the Atlanta Life Insurance Company.
Designed by Adrienne Herndon, a professor at Atlanta University and Alonzo’s first wife, the two-story, 15-room Classical Revival mansion with Beaux Arts influences, was built by local Black craftsmen. It was simultaneously added on the National Register of Historic Places and designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2000.
Upon his death, Herndon’s son Norris took over Atlanta Life Insurance and built upon his father’s success by turning it into a multi-million-dollar business.
The Herndon family are all buried in Southview Cemetery.
The final resting place for Kenny Rogers (1938-2020) is an ode the man and black granite. His final resting place is Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta.
Started in 1911, the Greek Orthodox section of Greenwood Cemetery is filled with impressive sculpture. On this one acre site, there are several monuments of unmatched artistry and a small chapel.
If you’ve ever eaten at Ria’s Bluebird, then you’ve experienced the legacy of Chef Ria Pell. After her win on Chopped, she became known about town and was well-loved in the community as shown by her headstone at Westview Cemetery and obituary.
The Out in the Rain Fountain sits not too far from the Oakland Cemetery Visitor’s Center. It was founded by J. L. Mott Iron Works in 1913 and copied from a Galloway & Graff sculpture originally made in 1876.
It’s listed on the Smithsonian’s Save Outdoor Sculpture database.
Built for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the 21-acre park served as a gathering spot for many activities during the Olympics. After the Olympics, the park now serves as the centerpiece for many activities, such as parades, concerts, fairs, and protests. When events are not happening, people gather to enjoy the dancing water fountains and other activities surrounding the park.