{"nrhp_refnum":"80001155","name":"Colored Cemetery","other_names":["Porterdale Cemetery"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"10th Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Columbus","county":"Muscogee County","state":"GA","lat":32.45216893250003,"lon":-84.98098138457155,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-09-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 17.6-acre public cemetery for Black citizens on 10th Avenue, south of 5th Street, in Columbus, Georgia, believed to have been set aside in the city's original 1828 plan. It is historically called \"The Colored Cemetery\" and later Porterdale Cemetery.","why_significant":"It is the oldest public burial ground for Black residents of Columbus. It is named for Richard P. Porter, a Black sexton who served nearly half a century. Its grave markers reflect the cultural attitudes of the Black community and how they changed over time, with marked graves dating from the early 1840s.","narrative":"Set on the northern edge of Columbus's southern greenbelt, this 17.6-acre burial ground is organized in a gridiron pattern around an east-west axis. It is believed to have been reserved in Edward Lloyd Thomas's 1828 city plan for the burial of Black residents, making it the oldest public cemetery for Black citizens in Columbus. For years it was known simply as \"The Colored Cemetery\"; the name Porterdale first appears in the 1936 city directory, honoring Richard P. Porter, who served as sexton from at least 1878 until about 1920. Graves face east, some in family plots and some alone, under scattered cedars and ornamental shrubs. Early markers are hand-cut native stone, later ones are concrete slabs, and a few marble monuments commemorate prominent community leaders. Marked graves date from the early 1840s. The markers are valued as art and sculpture because they reveal changing cultural attitudes within the Black community. The grounds are in fair condition, bordered by roads, fencing, vacant lots and a farmers market.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as a cemetery in current use for Black citizens; described as in fair condition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.621736-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/80001155.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93206442","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colored_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5149033"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/muscogee-county/colored-cemetery-80001155/"}