Williamson Mausoleum at Orphans Cemetery
Why it's listed
Albert G. Williamson, a Dodge County farmer, timber and naval stores man, and banker, commissioned a marble mausoleum for himself and his wife around 1910, after a traveling salesman offered to make statues from a photograph. Completed in 1912, the double mausoleum in Orphans Cemetery near Eastman, Georgia, sits under a circular canopy carried by five Doric columns of Georgia marble. Beneath it stand life-size statues of Williamson, his wife Martha, and their nephew Jay Gould Williamson, reportedly carved in Italy from Carrara marble. The Cordele Consolidated Marble Co. erected the monument. A survey of Georgia cemetery sculpture found no other monument showing three people, or a married couple, created in the subjects' lifetimes. The nomination presents it as a rare work of funerary art, listed under the art criterion for its artistic value. The 44-foot-square family lot, with its ca. 1912 iron fence, also holds graves of other Williamson relatives, who were known locally as the orphans, which gave the cemetery its name.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the monument is significant in art as a fine and very unusual, perhaps unique, Georgia example of a funerary monument commissioned and built in the lifetime of the man buried beneath it. The group portrays a man, his wife and their nephew, and a survey of Georgia cemetery sculpture found no comparable monument with multiple figures. It also commemorates Albert G. Williamson, a leading Dodge County businessman.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 97001331, listed November 7, 1997. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Orphans Cemetery Rd., jct. of US 23 and US 341, Eastman |
|---|---|
| County | Dodge County |
| Listed | November 7, 1997 |
| Reference number | 97001331 |
| Resource type | Object |
| Period of significance | 1912 |
| Architect / builder | The Cordele Consolidated Marble Co. of Cordele, Georgia, erected the monument. |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Art |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still used as a cemetery and work of art; the surrounding Orphans Cemetery was paved and landscaped in 1988. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 32.20747, -83.21653 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 97001331.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q8021229
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.