I’ve lived in Georgia most of life, born and raised. Yes, I’ve been lucky enough to see a lot of the world between travel and some adventurous years of living numerous ‘elsewheres’ in the U.S. but to quote the famous song:
“Georgia
A song of you
Comes as sweet and clear
As moonlight through the pines
Other arms reach out to me
Other eyes smile tenderly
Still in peaceful dreams I see
The road leads back to you”
And *bam* I’m boomeranging back to my home state once more. I’m closing in on 15 years in Athens and I’m almost ready to say that I’m here to stay but I do get the hankering to move from time-to-time. But if I do move I know Georgia will welcome me back with arms wide…just like the figure in the sculpture above!
Ok, but I digress. What I was rambling about was how I have lived in Georgia for a long time but the whole point is that I had never been to Augusta until just a few weeks ago. I can’t believe it took that long because I really fell in adoration with so many places within the city. I only scratched the surface during my brief time there and I only visited one cemetery. *GASP* But what a cemetery it was…
This was my favorite piece there. I think I have fallen in love with stars all over again…
A little bit about Summerville Cemetery and Summerville, Georgia. The city was created separate from Augusta centuries ago but was eventually swallowed up by the expansion of The Garden City. Now that area is a neighborhood is known as ‘The Hill’ and definitely has some of the fancier old architecture, old feel and old money. The resorts and golfing that Augusta has leaned into and became famous because of started in this area.
As for the cemetery, there are quite a few historical notables buried here. In fact, so many rich and powerful old dudes from long ago are found within that it’s nicknamed “The Political Graveyard.” That includes a Milledge that sold his land to a school that eventually became the University of Georgia. There’s an Athens-Augusta connection right there.
I’ve been doing a bit of research about the other residents of the cemetery but the majority of the information is about the politicians within. I did stumble across this article that talked about a scandalous (their word not mine…mine would be interesting) woman by the name of Annie Marie Hall and I’d like to know more about the drama of a tragic fire, infidelity involving her preacher husband, etc. Anyone out there know? Sadly, I do not have a picture of her headstone here but I did photograph a number of other ones that caught my eye even though I don’t know their backstory…
A child’s cradle grave has a tiny hand reaching upward. That’s a first for me in both the general imagery (I’ve seen many a pointing finger but never the whole hand like this) and seeing a child’s grave with that type of symbolism. It was about 4 inches tall and almost faded away but the emotional impact is still crystal clear.
Speaking of emotional, this cemetery had some of the saddest, most poignant epitaphs that I’ve stumbled across. The ‘And there shall be no night there’ is part of Revelations 22:5 “and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”
Lots of different stone colors and textures and designs to look at…
And spring flowers both temporal and enduring…
Goodbye Augusta. See you again soon!
