A Roswell cemetery has been designated a historical landmark.
Old Roswell Cemetery, which is officially called Methodist Cemetery, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in April. The register is the official list of the nation’s historic places worthy of preservation.
It’s the only cemetery in Roswell that has received the honor, Janet Johnson of the Roswell Historical Society said.
The cemetery is located on Woodstock Street and was recognized for the burial of numerous early settlers in Roswell, as well as the decorative art and architecture of monuments on the grounds, Johnson said.
Johnson and four others affiliated with the historical society spent five years applying for the National Register designation and providing research and documents, she said.
Signage at the cemetery reads Old Roswell Cemetery. It’s located at the former site of Mount Carmel Methodist Church, which was organized in 1836 as a log cabin and is no longer on the property.
Even so, the church didn’t establish the cemetery and has no connection to the property, she added. The church has moved three times, landing at its current location on Mimosa Boulevard in 1920 renamed as Roswell United Methodist Church.
The cemetery has 2,500 marked graves. In 2017, 500 unmarked graves were discovered through ground penetrating radar on the 10-acre property, Johnson said.
“These were the everyday people who began the early settlement of Roswell,” Johnson said.
The earliest known grave is an 1846 marker for an infant, Rebecca Catherine Proudfoot, who lived four months. Rebecca was the daughter of Hugh Proudfoot, who came to the area with city founder Roswell King, from Darien Georgia, Johnson added.
The cemetery is at the corner of Woodstock and Alpharetta Streets and has no official owner, Johnson said. It’s maintained by the city of Roswell and the historical society. The parties formed an agreement in 2014, in which the city funds maintenance of the property for such things as lawn mowing. The historical society also raises funds through donations from individuals and organizations, Johnson added.
Since 2014, the historical society has raised nearly $47,000 in donations and restored more than 250 monuments in the cemetery, Johnson said.
The National Register designation makes the cemetery eligible for additional funds through federal grants, she said.
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