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Using 19th century ideas for a rural garden cemetery, the city opened the Atlanta Graveyard, also called City Burial Place. By 1872, the cemetery had expanded to 48 acres and changed its name to Oakland Cemetery. During the Civil War, the cemetery expanded to bury soldiers who died in area hospitals. After Atlanta was burned and the war had ravaged the city, there was now a need for even more burial space, and by 1867 the cemetery reached its present size of 88 acres.
At the end of the 19th Century, Oakland became a popular destination for city residents to escape the everyday hustle and bustle. Families tending to different plots created individual gardens, and to accommodate the development of these gardens, the first greenhouse in Atlanta was built in Oakland in 1870. These sections were divided by classes and groups of people, including:
Original Six Acres - A small area was partially designated for picnics and gatherings. Buried here: Martha Lumpkin Compton—original namesake of Marthasville—Atlanta's original name; Maynard Jackson, Atlanta's first black mayor who served three terms and was instrumental in bringing the Olympics to Atlanta in 1996. Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is named for him.
African-American Grounds - Most of the black Atlantans buried here did not live a wealthy life. Most were poor slaves whose only property owned in life was their burial plot. The original “Slave Square” was located in the Original Six Acres, but was later moved to its current location on the east side of the property. Buried here: Bishop Wesley John Gaines, founder of Morris Brown College; a slave named Bosan is buried, who was said to be 125 years old when he died.
Jewish Sections - The Hebrew Benevolent Society was made up of Atlanta's 50 Jewish citizens. In 1860, they purchased the beginnings of what is now known as the Old Jewish Burial Grounds on the southern wall of Oakland. It is the second oldest Jewish burial ground in the state of Georgia. Buried here: Morris and Emanuel Rich, founders of the original Rich's Department Store (now Macy's); Jacob Elsas, owner of the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mill; Jacob Jacobs, owner of the drugstore where Coca-Cola was first served.
Confederate Memorial Grounds - This section contains the interred bodies of approximately 6,900 Confederate soldiers (including nearly 3,000 unknown soldiers). Within this area are 16 headstones of Union soldiers that are mentioned in the novel Gone with the Wind.
Potter’s Field Comprised - Comprised of seven acres on the east side of the property, this is the final resting place of almost 8,000 of the 70,000 buried in the cemetery. It was reserved for Atlanta's poor and indigent. In this area, there was no division between class, race or religion and in some areas it is said that bodies are buried on top of each other.
Today, the Oakland Cemetery remains a public park as well as a destination for artists and tourists and is even a destination for weddings. The beauty of the gardens, and nearly 30,000 monuments, and serenity keeps the park an escape for residents as it did over 100 years ago. It is the final resting place for six former Georgia governors, 26 former Atlanta mayors and several national and international celebrities.
Many tourists flock to Oakland Cemetery to see the modest monument where the author of Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell is buried (look for her married name: Margaret Mitchell Marsh). Golf fanatics visit Robert “Bobby” Jones' grave and often leave golf tees and balls with personal messages written on them. Also buried here are many of Atlanta's founding fathers with neighborhood and street names like Collier, Dunwody (Dunwoody), Vinings, Norcross and Austell. Oakland Cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Oakland Cemetery, 248 Oakland Avenue SE, 404-688-2107, Web Site
