I was stopped in a funeral processional when I realized the casket was being pulled by a horse drawn carriage. It was beautiful to witness. This is a screenshot from a short video that I took. I don’t normally process in black and white, but I liked the contrast of the horse and carriage with the driver. This was near South-view Cemetery.
Located next to Proctor Creek and off of Atlanta Road, the Pet Haven Memorial Park is one of a small handful pet cemeteries in the greater Atlanta area. There are two sections. The oldest section is next to the creek. The area drains poorly, so it is largely in disarray. When I visited, it had been recently mowed. The newer section lies directly in front of the entrance. It’s better kept.
The cemetery seems to have had two active time periods. The first thirty years and the last ten years have significantly more markers. Unless they were unmarked, there seems to be plenty of burial spots still available.
If you’ve visited the King Plow Arts Center, you have visited the site of the company that Clyde King owned. Initially, it was known as the the Atlanta Plow Company, but later the name was changed to the King Plow Company in 1928.
Clyde and his wife, Clara Belle, lived in a brick home at 1010 Ponce de Leon Avenue. Clara loved that house so much that she wanted to be buried in the backyard. Clyde commissioned a monument that replicates the home, so the Kings would be near the home forever. Their final resting place at Oakland Cemetery is adorned with this monument.
Alpha Delta Pi sorority now use the King house for their national headquarters.
I owe this post to my two friends, Victoria and Ann. Both had shared photos of Luther Price’s house and said it was being restored. This Old House assisted with the restoration. I adore this house and am glad it got the attention it deserved. A restored photo of the home is below.
Luther Price was a shopkeeper and the first appointed Black postmaster of South Atlanta. He was also arrested for furnishing Black citizens guns and ammunition during the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre.
He and his wife, Minnie, lived above the store with their children until they decided to move just down the street on Gammons Street.
Victoria was the one who asked why the building was called Morse. I delved into census records to see if I could determine the reason why. Well, Albert Morse and his family lived right behind the store. They lived next to each other according to the 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 census records. Additionally, Morse is listed as a postal clerk. Since the 1890 Census Records were lost to fire, it is unknown whether the families knew each other before 1900 and who moved to the area first.
The Morse house is still standing. In addition, Albert’s brother, Dr. George Skipworth Morse, was one of the first Black doctors to work for the Atlanta Public Schools. Both families were successful in their own right.
I hope to unravel more about the friendships between these two families.
Both families are buried in Southview Cemetery.
Known as “The Spirit of Achievement” or, more simply, “Achievement,” the Jesse Parker and Cora Best Taylor Williams memorial in Westview Cemetery illustrates the success of Williamses, who relocated to Atlanta in 1900.
J. P. Williams built and ran the Georgia, Florida, and Alabama railway. Upon his death, Cora took over the management of the railroad. She ran the company until she passed. In her will, she asked that a hospital for women and children be built where their house once stood, at approximately 542 Peachtree Street. The hospital turned over management to Crawford Long Hospital, now Emory Midtown, in 1992. While the building no longer exists, the Jesse Parker Williams Foundation still exists and gives out health-related grants.
The memorial was created by sculptor Daniel Chester French and architect Henry Bacon. It’s listed as part of the Smithsonian’s Save Our Sculpture database.
Founded in 1925 as Fairview Cemetery, Lincoln Cemetery is the final resting place for many notable Black Atlantans. Tiger Flowers, the renowned boxer, was one of the original benefactors to help develop the cemetery. The cemetery is over 100 acres, with many of the acres not yet developed.
