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 It was founded by J. L. Mott Iron Works in 1913 and copied from a Galloway & Graff sculpture originally made in 1876.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.
If you were a fan of S-Town, you likely wondered about the final resting place for John B. McElmore. I visited a few years ago and was impressed with the handmade headstone. I believe this was made by Tyler Goodson. He rests in the cemetery behind Green Pond Presbyterian Church in Bibb County.
On January 31, 1915, Kelly Mitchell, Queen of the Gypsy Nation, died during childbirth in Coatopa, Alabama. She was buried in Meridian, Mississippi at Rose Hill Cemetery because the city had enough ice to keep the body cool until her funeral, a funeral attended by over 20,000 people. Since her death, people visit from all around the world to leave trinkets on her grave. One reason why folks might leave items is to let others know the grave has been visited and, therefore, the person is not forgotten. For the Queen of the Gypsies, people leave items to attract Kelly to their dreams in hope she will help solve their problems. If you visit, outside of the Mardi Gras beads, you will likely see bottles of Orange Crush because it was supposedly her favorite drink.
Over the years, several attempts to rob her grave were prevented. They often made national news.
The Turning Angel watches over the graves of five young women and girls who were killed in a blast at the Natchez Drug Company on March 14, 1908. The owner of the company placed to have the angel, also known as a scribe angel, over the headstones. Luella Booth, 17, Ada White, 19, Mary Worthy, 12, Inez Netterville, 17, and Carrie Murray, 22, lost their lives in the explosion.
The Turning Angel got its name because the angel sits near a curve in a road around the cemetery. At night, drivers would insist the angel was turning when their headlights lit the angel.
Florence Irene Ford died at the age of 10 because of yellow fever. She was terrified of storms and the dark, so her mother placed her in a glass-topped coffin with glass installed at the edge of her grave. The mother then had steps built at the top of the grave. She would join her daughter during those storms to keep her company. Considering this is Mississippi, she likely spent a lot of time on those stairs during spring and summer months. Cemetery official covered the glass wall to protect from vandals.
