 Oconee Hill Cemetery records
Collection DescriptionHistorical NoteIn 1854 a committee was designated to investigate a desirable location for a privately owned cemetery to replace the Old City Cemetery on Jackson Street. A plot of land owned by Mrs. Pamela A. Hopping, on the North Oconee River, was purchased by the City of Athens in 1856. The land was divided into lots and the funds received from the sale of the lots were turned over to the Board of Cemetery Trustees. The Board solicited cemetery design plans and selected Dr. James Camak's proposal. In 1860, a charter was obtained from the State of Georgia assigning complete financial and administrative control to the Board. The purchase of an additional plot of nearly 82 acres on the east side occurred in 1898 and the bridge connecting the two plots opened in 1899. The original bridge was replaced with an iron bridge in the 1950s. The Mayor of the City of Athens was declared an ex-officio member of the Board in 1904 and an amendment to the act, approved in 1915, authorized the trustees to create a perpetual care trust. For additional information, see the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places, http://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/13000291.htm Scope and ContentThese records document the administration, maintenance, and preservation of the Oconee Hill Cemetery from 1897 to 2014. There are no records created prior to 1897, since they were all destroyed by a fire. The collection consists of administrative files, correspondence, sexton reports, trustee minutes, plot and deed files, financial information, ledgers, and photographs. Administrative InformationConditions Governing AccessThis collection contains electronic files. To access these files, please request the folders you would like through the finding aid using your research account. An archivist will be in contact with you to explain how to access the files. Please note that some file formats may not currently be supported by the library for research use. Due to preservation concerns, glass plate negatives are available only in digital form. Preferred CitationOconee Hill Cemetery records, ms 3853, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries. Finding Aid PublicationFinding aid prepared on: 2014. General NotesDigitized portions of this collection can be found at the Oconee Hill Cemetery web site. Related Materials and SubjectsSubject TermsRelated Collections in this RepositoryRelated collections in this repository: Oconee Hill Cemetery papers, ms 2194; Ellen Sumner collection, ms 2862; Frank Hamrick photograph archive, ms 3238; and Athens City Records--Maps, Plans and Blueprints, ms 1633a. | ||||||||||||||||||