Atlanta

Neighbors upset someone moved headstones from cemetery dating back to 1800s

By Rikki Klaus
By Rikki Klaus

ATLANTA — Neighbors are upset after they say someone removed headstones from a cemetery dating back to the 1800s.

The McDonald cemetery has been on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near Bolton Road for hundreds of years. Neighbors say they believe at least three families may have had burial plots there.

Channel 2's Rikki Klaus was in southwest Atlanta, where city officials said someone used heavy equipment to move the headstones without permission.

Neighbors also starting noticing crews putting ribbons on the trees for removal.

Neighbors alerted the city, which has temporarily stopped work at the site to investigate.

Now, there's a struggle between a local business owner and the city of Atlanta.

Mark Walker, who owns the MD Walker Funeral Home, owns the property where the cemetery is. Walker told Klaus off-camera that he wants to build a new funeral home there and he got a permit to start.

When complaints about the cemetery rolled in, the city investigated. They found the grave markers had already been moved.

Walker claims he only cleaned up the property and didn't move the headstones. He said he spent thousands of dollars to clean up fallen trees, tires and trash.

Walker told Klaus he has since hired an archaeologist so he can move forward with building his new funeral home.

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Neighbors and activists are still upset anyone would think it was ok to disturb the graveyard.

Channel 2's Tom Jones talked to local activist Terrence Smith, who showed him video taken in early 2017 of the gravesite in its original location. He said now the stones are about 25 feet away.

"So it actually had to be moved," Smith said. "It's destroyed over here pretty much. I'ts in pretty bad shape."

Smith later found the new location just off the half-acre wooded property that Walker owns.

Smith said moving the stones is disrespectful.

"You're actually destroying history," Smith said.

Smith also doesn't think the space is big enough to build on.

"We just don't think there's enough room to build a business in here due to the fact that there are unmarked graves," Smith said.

Smith said the markers belonged to at least three families. One headstone simply reads "Mother." Another is for a baby who died in the late 1800s. Smith said he has no idea how they'll match the markers with the actual graves, since nothing was marked.

City of Atlanta officials said slaves may have been buried in the plots too, in, unmarked graves.

Cox Media Group

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