{"nrhp_refnum":"02000563","name":"Paradise Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"E of Southern RR bet. Lawrenceville St. and Mahaffey Circle","address_restricted":false,"city":"Jefferson","county":"Jackson County","state":"GA","lat":34.119112490500044,"lon":-83.58205591465543,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-05-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Landscape Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Paradise Cemetery is an approximately two-acre, historically African-American cemetery in Jefferson, Jackson County, Georgia, about half a mile northwest of the downtown square. It was established by 1880 on land once occupied by Paradise A.M.E. Church and related buildings.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the last surviving part of a larger African-American complex that included a church, school, parsonage and two duplexes. It is a good example of an informally planned African-American cemetery in a small Georgia town, with modest markers, unmarked graves and a few distinctive monuments. Those buried include teachers, farmers, landowners, church leaders and ministers from Jefferson and Jackson County.","narrative":"Paradise Cemetery is a two-acre burial ground in Jefferson, Georgia, used by the African-American community since at least 1880, the date of its earliest known grave marker. It occupies the site of Paradise A.M.E. Church, founded in 1854 as the first Black church in Jackson County, along with a schoolhouse, parsonage and two duplexes. Only the cemetery and foundation remnants of the 1919 concrete block church remain. Most markers are small stone tablets, many graves are marked only by rocks, and a few large obelisks and decorative stones, such as that of landowner Harrison Hawkins, stand out. Burials include teachers, farmers, church leaders and ministers, among them longtime pastor Reverend Willie D. Cash. The nomination presents the cemetery as a typical informally planned small-town Georgia African-American cemetery, significant for ethnic heritage and landscape architecture, and as the principal surviving resource of the local Black community's history. The period of significance runs from c.1880 to 1952.","period_of_significance":"c.1880-1952","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"No style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Historic and current function is cemetery; it has been in continuous use since at least 1880. Only foundation remains of the demolished church buildings survive on the site.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:43.157905-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/02000563.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"03000137","name":"Jefferson Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/georgia/jefferson-historic-district-03000137/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93208704","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/jackson-county/paradise-cemetery-02000563/"}