{"nrhp_refnum":"09000779","name":"Jackson Street Cemetery","other_names":["Old Athens Cemetery"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"S. Jackson St., University of Georgia campus","address_restricted":false,"city":"Athens","county":"Clarke County","state":"GA","lat":33.954433566000034,"lon":-83.37248686099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-10-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Historic - Aboriginal","Art","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-a-half acre historic city cemetery on South Jackson Street on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Clarke County, Georgia, in use from about 1810 and with burials from 1814 to 1898.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant under three criteria. It documents the early development of Athens next to the university and its role as the city's first public cemetery. It holds a notable collection of early 19th-century grave markers, box tombs and ornamental cast-iron fencing. It has also yielded, and may still yield, archaeological information about unmarked burials.","narrative":"Jackson Street Cemetery, also called Old Athens Cemetery, occupies about two and a half acres of sloping hillside on the University of Georgia campus in Athens. Around 1810 the university's trustees informally gave the land to the city for use as a public burial ground. It served as the main cemetery for the city's white residents until Oconee Hill Cemetery opened in 1855, though burials continued into the 1890s. It holds 135 known burials, plus many unassociated stones and fragments. Graves include farmers, professionals, students, faculty and soldiers of the Revolutionary and Civil wars. The site is notable for early 19th-century markers, including box tombs, ledgers, obelisks and headstones signed by carvers from Augusta, Charleston and Savannah, along with Victorian cast-iron plot fencing. Ground-penetrating radar surveys beginning in 2007 located many unmarked graves and show the site's continuing research value. It was listed for its role in Athens' early growth, its funerary art and its archaeological potential.","period_of_significance":"c.1810-1959","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C","D"],"status_note":"Still functionally listed as a cemetery. Many markers and box tombs need repair or stabilization after years of neglect, erosion and vandalism, and the university has done preservation work since 2004.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:42.847175-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/09000779.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000779/ec06d0c02f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000779/ec06d0c02f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Gwringle","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jackson_Street_Cemetery,_photographer_facing_SE.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Gwringle</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jackson_Street_Cemetery,_photographer_facing_SE.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93207470","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Street_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6117403"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/clarke-county/jackson-street-cemetery-09000779/"}