Brooklyn Cemetery

Brooklyn Cemetery in west Athens was established in 1882 by the Bethlehem Cemetery Society and is one of the oldest African American cemeteries in the city. Its roughly 1,000 burials include working-class Athenians of the period, among them tradespeople, farmers, preachers, teachers, laundresses, and cooks, as well as at least 54 documented military veterans of the Civil War, both World Wars, and the Korean War. Long neglected, the grounds have been the focus of restoration and documentation efforts since Friends of Brooklyn Cemetery formed in 2006, and University of Georgia researchers later mapped and recorded the site to recover the histories of Black Athenians buried there.

Brooklyn Cemetery is a cemetery in Athens, Athens-Clarke County. It is one of 28 cemeteries documented in Athens-Clarke County, among 141 historic sites cataloged across the county on Georgia Roam.

The site sits at 33.9418, -83.4065 near Athens. The nearest cataloged historic site is Hodgson-Dodd Park (historical marker), about 0.7 miles away. Others within a short drive include Vincent J. Dooley, Significant Achievements, and Honors and Awards.

This record is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.