Cemetery
Segregation
founded February 1886
City of Atlanta
General area only

South-View Cemetery (1886)

Founded in 1886 by formerly enslaved Black businessmen who wanted a place where families could bury their dead with dignity. It is one of the oldest African American cemeteries in Atlanta and was listed on the National Register in July 2026.

See it on the map All Segregation records

The record

In February 1886 a group of founders including Jacob McKinley, George W. Graham, Robert Grant, Charles H. Morgan, John Render and Albert Watts petitioned the state for a charter, which was granted that April; the cemetery's own history counts nine founders, while other accounts name only these six. They acted because Black families had been forced to enter cemeteries through back gates to bury their dead. People buried here include Ruby Doris Smith-Robinson, John Lewis, Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King. Martin Luther King Jr. was first buried here before being moved to the King Center on Auburn Avenue. The cemetery covers about 100 acres and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 6, 2026.