HISTORIC OAKLAND IN THE HEART OF ATLANTA

Margaret Mitchell (Author of Gone With the Wind), Morris and Emanuel Rich (Rich's Department  store), Governor Joseph E. Brown (Georgia's only four-term governor) and Julia Carlisle Withers (known as Atlanta's First Baby) are a few among the 70,000 souls laid to rest in the historic Oakland Cemetery.

 

The Divine Miss M, Luke and I paid a visit to this most beautiful green space in February. Spring was just beginning to make an appearance on this day and we wanted to tour Atlanta's oldest landmark.

 

Oakland was established in Atlanta in 1850. There was a need to lay 7,000 Confederate soldiers to rest so six acres of farmland were purchased to accommodate this need and many original interments were moved to the new Oakland. Oakland now covers 48 acres, which is only five blocks east of the State Capital. It is in the very midst of urban and commercial developments.

 

I find cemeteries fascinating and Oakland is full of history and stories to be told. There are gardens of beauty, notable architecture and symbolism. The City of Atlanta owns and is responsible for the roads, paths and public grounds. Two-thirds of the cemetery belong to private lot owners who are responsible for the maintenance of their lots. Due to the fact that some of these private lots are family owned and so aged, explains why some lots are in such a sad state of disrepair. There are no longer family members to care for the headstones or the overgrown brush. Oakland serves as a history museum, botanical garden and arboretum, Audubon wildlife sanctuary and active city park.

 

We began our tour here

"Tweet" The Mockingbird was one of several beloved family pets buried at Oakland.

The grave has a lamb for a headstone because the stone carver could not depict a mockingbird.

 

Luke placed a bright yellow flower on this old, old headstone to show that he visited

Part of the original six acres

Symbols were often used as a form of shorthand.

They represent a complex idea or form of emotion.

Symbolism was very popular during the Victorian era.

These were the largest Magnolia trees I had ever seen.....

magnificent against the skyline of Atlanta

 

Miss M and Luke touring the original six acres and observing all of these beautiful Magnolias

 

This was so ornate...they must have loved their mother a great deal

This is an entire family

The view of their family plot from the front

 

 Lovely Camellias

 

One of the many family Mausoleum's

 

 

Camellias

Showing the way to the Marsh family.....Margaret Mitchell's final resting place

Margaret was born in the nearby Old Fourth Ward of Atlanta

and often rode her pony Nellie, through the grounds of Oakland

A visitor had placed a red heart box of Valentine's chocolate on their headstone

 

Another family.....

This part of the cemetery is unbelievably ornate and majestic

 

A baby boy....

of the 70,000 stories residing within Oakland,

50% of these belong to the children

 

Signs of Spring

This area is aged and very close to the Slave Square

Between 1852 and 1877, over 800 African-Americans were buried in part of the original six acres.

 In 1877 the Atlanta City Council ordered the bones and bodies of these people be removed and reburied in the "colored pauper grounds".

Their plots were then resold to whites.

The Bloomfield family plot honors four young sisters, ages 2,4,6 and 8, who died within a 10-day period in 1863 of Diphtheria. Ivy on the cross symbolizes fidelity and friendship, a rose garland represents love and beauty.

I placed this dried Hydrangea on this marker....it looked so lonely to me

The Confederate Memorial grounds. 16 Union soldiers are also buried here.

There are 3,000 soldiers who are unknown...their headstones are marked "Confederate Soldier"...

no name, no birth or death date

This is the Lion of Atlanta

He guards the unknown soldiers

He was erected in 1894 by the Atlanta Ladies of Memorial Assoc.

He depicts a lion mortally wounded by a broken spear,

clutching the Confederate flag.

He was patterned after the Lion of Lucerne in Switzerland

 

I was extremely interested in learning about the Jewish sections of Oakland. These parcels were purchased in 1878 by the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation, The Temple which was primarily a German congregation. There is also an area of mainly Russian and Eastern European heritage and noted differences in land usage and symbolism. We ran into this man and his Golden Retriever who happened to work at Oakland and was kind enough to give us a most interesting history lesson.

A portion of the Jewish section.

They did not believe in flowers on the gravesites or any waste of land,

hence the monuments are very close to each other.

This was a good example of a very aged marker where the family has died.

There is no one left to maintain the family owned property.

Rather unnerving to see this.

This is the Austell Mausoleum, 1883 Gothic Revival

It was built by Alfred Austell, 1814-1881, who was a prominent banker and

founder of the Atlanta National Bank (now Wells Fargo).

It is the highest spot in Oakland and cost $16,000 for construction

Oakland holds special evens to support the Historic Oakland Foundation.

There are private group tours, special topic tours and special events.

LOVE STORIES OF OAKLAND

PHOENIX FLIES

 (celebrating the architecture, landscapes and significant buildings)

THE RUN LIKE HELL 5K: PUSHING UP DAISIES

TUNES FROM THE TOMB (a weekend of music and spirits)

SUNDAY IN THE PARK, A VICTORIAN FESTIVAL

CAPTURING THE SPIRIT OF OAKLAND HALLOWEEN TOURS