Flipper Cemetery

Flipper Cemetery, sometimes remembered as the old Magnolia Cemetery, is among the oldest African American burial grounds in Thomasville and takes its name from the locally prominent Flipper family. Its most celebrated grave belongs to Henry Ossian Flipper, who in 1877 became the first African American to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and to earn a commission as an Army officer. Flipper died in Atlanta in 1940 and was first buried at South-View Cemetery, but in 1978 his remains were brought home to Thomasville and reinterred here beside his parents. The shaded grounds, planted with oaks and other trees, are maintained as a historical resource in the city.

Flipper Cemetery is a cemetery in Thomasville, Thomas County. It is one of 80 cemeteries documented in Thomas County, among 113 historic sites cataloged across the county on Georgia Roam.

The site sits at 30.8450, -83.9878 near Thomasville. The nearest cataloged historic site is First Black Graduate of West Point (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include The Old Cemetery, Lapham-Patterson House, and Church of the Good Shepherd.

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