Harmony Grove Cemetery

Harmony Grove Cemetery sits on a small rise at the southwest corner of West Paces Ferry and Chatham Roads. Surrounded by trees, Harmony Grove encompasses a little less than one acre of land and contains at least 171 burials. Forty of the graves are marked with traditional inscribed headstones while the rest are either unmarked or marked by fieldstones.

Although the exact origins of the Cemetery are unclear, the earliest documented burials are attributable to the family of James H. “Whispering” Smith who owned land near the cemetery. The first recorded burial in the cemetery belongs to Smith’s infant son, James, who died on March 4, 1870.

Before

After

Whispering Smith died two years later and joined his son at Harmony Grove. In his will, Smith designated a two acre piece of property on present day Arden Road to be used by local African Americans for worship purposes. The church the African Americans built, New Hope A.M.E., still holds worship services some 135 years after Smith’s death.

Read more about the history of Harmony Grove Cemetery here.

In 2006, recognizing the historic significance of the cemetery, the Buckhead Heritage Society undertook an extensive restoration of the cemetery. Buckhead Heritage enlisted the services of mortuary archaeologists, landscape architects and headstone repair experts during the restoration, which lasted approximately 3 years and received the 2009 State Preservation Award. Harmony Grove Cemetery now exists as a functional green space in Buckhead and a tangible link to Buckhead’s rural past. Notable occupants of Harmony Grove Cemetery include Confederate Civil War veterans, prominent local businessmen, the father of Dorothy Shay (better known as The Park Avenue Hillbillie) and even the Great Grandparents of actress, Julia Roberts.

View the Photo Gallery for Harmony Grove Cemetery restoration project.

Read about the Harmony Grove Cemetery Project Phases.

Restoration Documents:

Cemetery Map

Archaeological Report

Through our efforts to research Harmony Grove, we have assembled a good bit of information in regards to obituaries of those interred in the cemetery, land deeds of the property dating back to the late 1800’s, and newspaper articles concerning the church or its parishioners from the early 1900’s.