The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cemetery dating to 1877 hidden next to Hartsfield-Jackson
Land owned by airport authority is near fififth runway.
Q: Off of Sullivan Road near Hartsfield Airport there is a small cemetery called Flat Rock. Can you tell me about the cemetery?
A: Flat Rock Cemetery is on the south side of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and was established in 1877.
The land is owned by the airport authority and near the fifth runway. Awire fence adjacent to the site protects the airport property.
Areminder of an area that once housed a church now simply “contains the remains of manyo f the earliest settlers to the surrounding Flat Rock community,” according to a historic marker at the site.
“Many of these people had moved into the area in the years before the Civil War and established their small farms,” according to the marker. “In December of 1872, they formed Flat Rock Baptist Church.”
As the airport expanded in the 1960s, the congregation dwindled until the land, except the cemetery, was sold to the city of Atlanta in 1970. The property was sold to the airport authority in 1979.
The church was demolished in the mid-1990s.
The cemetery is small and well kept. Markers vary from very basic towhat was probably considered elaborate in years past. Depressions in the ground may indicate some unmarked sites.
As one would expect, faded artificial arrangements were found at a few of the headstones, and some had flowers placed for the Christmas holiday.
Interestingly, nine eggplants were on the ground in front of a gated family plot.
Walking through the cemetery, you can discover many stories by reading the tombstones. At one family plot, therewas a grave for a 1-day-old girl, an 8-monthold boy and a 13- monthold boy.
There are headstones for veterans of the Civil War, World War I and World War II.
The most recent burial marked on a headstone is in 2012. There were some grave stones with open-ended dates.
Several of the headstones had fallen. There were two small Confederate flags next to headstones.
A few yucca plants were there, as commonly seen in older cemeteries. Whether they were gravesite markers or there for other reasons was unknown.
Due to expansion of the airport, you can no longer see planes taxi off the runway fromthe cemetery but can see them in flflight.
Though the cemetery is tucked to the side of theroad, there is constant noise from planes taking off and travelers on Sullivan Road.
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