Though I will always be of Wilson, I have lived in Atlanta for most of my adult life. It is very much “home” for me, too, and is a bottomless well of African-American culture and history that often informs the way I process research and works related to Black Wide-Awake and Lane Street Project.
I’ve recently begun visiting metro Atlanta’s historic African-American burial grounds. How have they weathered exploding population growth, shifting demographics, outmigration, land loss, and other pressures? The third in a series — Owl Rock Cemetery, South Fulton, Fulton County.
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Founded in 1828, Owl Rock Methodist Church stands near the intersection of Campbellton Road and Union Road in southwest Fulton County, an area that saw significant skirmishing during the Civil War’s Battle of Atlanta. The church’s cemetery lies adjacent to the church alongside Union Road and contains two grave markers designating buried African Americans. All were or had been enslaved, but only one is named — Hasseltine Bell.
Photos by Lisa Y. Henderson.