Cemeteries in Georgia (State)

Georgia, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies, was founded in 1733 by British general James Oglethorpe as a buffer colony between Spanish Florida and South Carolina.

Named in honor of King George II, Georgia initially served as a refuge for debtors and the poor. Early settlers included English, Scottish Highlanders, Germans, and Sephardic Jews. The colony banned slavery and large landholdings at first, but those policies were soon reversed, and plantation agriculture expanded rapidly. Georgia became a state in 1788 and played a major role in the cotton economy of the antebellum South. During the Civil War, it seceded from the Union and suffered major destruction during General Sherman’s 1864 “March to the Sea.” After Reconstruction, Georgia gradually industrialized while retaining its agrarian roots. The state is now divided into 159 counties.

Historic cemeteries such as Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta preserve the memory of Georgia’s diverse and complex past.