Dedicated Volunteers Help Ensure Preservation of Alamo Memorial Cemetery

For over three decades, dedicated volunteers have been keeping vigil over Alamo Memorial Cemetery, ensuring the site is maintained and preserved for future generations.

The Alamo Memorial Cemetery Committee oversees a cemetery fund that accepts donations to accomplish cemetery improvements such as fencing, landscaping and signage. The city-owned property located on Pine Street, off of Georgia Highway 126 (Commerce Street), is routinely mowed by the city of Alamo, which has also added paved roads inside the cemetery, as well as lighting.

The City sells lots to families who are responsible for upkeep, but in many cases families have moved away or family members who maintained these spaces are no longer living. It is then incumbent upon the volunteers and the City to see to the maintenance and upkeep of these unattended lots. The cemetery was actually a burial site since before the City was incorporated in 1909. Records indicate that the earliest marked burials took place there in 1900, but there may be other unmarked graves which predate this time.

Bobby Cox, who has served the City of Alamo as city manager, Mayor, and now, as a Council member, has been a member of the Alamo Memorial Cemetery Committee since its inception. He said the cemetery also contains the monuments for the McRae and Clements families, which were relocated with the permission of descendants from a burial site that had become unkempt. These monuments date to the early 1800s (Farquhar McRae, died March 8, 1838, aged 75 years), and are located prominently in the front of the cemetery. The McRae and Clements families were among the first people to settle in what was then Montgomery County and would later become Wheeler County.

Cox believes the cemetery is composed of multiple parcels, including a small burial ground which was once surrounded by a wire fence where the first interments occurred.

City Attorney and Committee member Russell Clark, who is also a long-time member of the Cemetery Committee, said the late Faye Hartley Bouchillon was instrumental in establishing the cemetery fund and committee, which have continued through the years. Recently, a third section was opened at the cemetery, which will make available 75-80 new sites for burials.

The latest improvement at the cemetery was the upgrading of the signage at the entrance. An existing brick structure was given a new coat of paint by Jimmy Riddle, and a customized metal sign created by local welding and fabrication artisan Cody Hart was affixed to the face of the structure.

Mary Ann Rhodes, who chairs the Cemetery Committee, said it is the aim of the committee to maintain the cemetery as a beautiful and inviting place for families to visit. She said the committee recently planted trees and pressure washed the fence, and one day hopes to add a gazebo with seating for visitors.

In addition to Rhodes, Cox, and Clark, other Committee members are Linda Burke, Gwen Jones, and Lynette Price. Donations for the maintenance and improvement of the cemetery are appreciated. Contributions may be sent to: Alamo Memorial Cemetery Fund, 64 W. Forest Avenue, Alamo, GA 30411.