The Decatur Cemetery is a historic graveyard within the City of Decatur, Georgia.
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History
The Decatur Cemetery is the oldest burial ground in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and it is believed to have been used even before Decatur's 1823 incorporation.
In 1832, an act by the local legislature created "Commissioners for the Decatur Burial Ground." Numerous Civil War veterans were buried in the Decatur Cemetery, mostly in the 8-acre (3.2 ha) region now referred to as, "The Old Cemetery". The Cemetery's "Well House" was built in 1881.
Today
The Decatur Cemetery has expanded to 54 acres (22 ha) and contains well over 20,000 graves. A special section exists for cremated burials; the cemetery also contains a pond stocked with fish. This pond is also home to swans, ducks and turtles, and is a stopping place for Canada geese on migration. The cemetery is bordered by a several acre forest, which borders the Glennwood Estates neighborhood.
Features
The forested ravine east of the cemetery includes a newly completed pedestrian path that winds over a branch of Peachtree Creek. A small waterfall is just south of the southern bridge.
At the southeast corner of the cemetery is found a grove of giant bamboo, some with trunks over 20 cm in diameter. A short path leads through this grove to the end of the Ponce de Leon Court Historic District.
Notable graves
- Lt. Col. Robert Augustus Alston (1832-1879); state legislator and journalist, owner of Meadow Nook
- Col. Milton A. Candler (1837-1909); state senator and U.S. Congressman
- Dr Thomas Holley Chivers (1806-1858); physician and poet
- Mary Ann Harris Gay (1829-1918); author of Life in Dixie During the War
- William S. Howard (1875 - August 1, 1953) U.S. Congressman
- Rev. Hovie Lister (1926-2001) Gospel musician (The Statesmen Quartet)
- Charles Murphey (1799-1861); U.S. Congressman and a delegate to the Georgia Secession Convention
- Robert Ramspeck (1890-1972) U.S. Congressman
- Col. George Washington Scott (1829-1903); founder of Agnes Scott College
- Andrew Sledd (1870-1939); founding president of the modern University of Florida, and Emory University professor
- Leslie Jasper Steele (1868-1929) Mayor of Decatur, U.S. Congressman
- Benjamin F. Swanton (1807-1890) owner of the historic Swanton House
- Leila Ross Wilburn (1885-1967) pioneering woman architect
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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