Just a short drive from a major Georgia highway, Pleasant Cemetery is a tiny rural cemetery that sits near pastureland and a little itty-bitty swampy area, complete with cypress trees. It’s super quiet and peaceful, except for the mooing cows off in the distance (which I love), and there’s a nice shady tree to sit under for a spell.
I visited this cemetery with a distinct purpose in mind – grave house! – but was delighted to find a cool archway and some unusual funerary art too…
There are lots of vernacular stylings in the cemetery – vases and pots and even an intricately sculpted headstone complete with flowers and trees.
Also there are number of graves that are marked with either singular ‘unknown’ or with a plaque honoring the untold number of slaves who are buried there with unmarked plots.
The star of the cemetery show is this Victorian grave house built for Mary Susan Knight Carter. Mary was only 20 when she died in 1887 but her memory lives on in this amazing structure that has been rebuilt several times by the folks from the community. And right now the irises planted inside of the fencing are blooming with beautiful bursts of indigo and purple.
Grave houses have become super rare nowadays. Most were designed as wooden shelters to protect the graves from animals and weather, or in some cases are symbolic of grief and home, and unless the wood was carefully maintained it rotted in the heat and humidity. This one is obviously very well cared for…
Ray City, Georgia
Coordinates: 31.09610, -83.29810