Smyrna has restored a slave cemetery that had become nearly invisible after years of neglect.
The city will hold a dedication ceremony on Feb. 20 for the renewed Mount Zion Cemetery, WSB-TV reports.
The city spent $100,000 to clear trees, build a fence and wall, improve landscaping and restore headstones after taking over the site in 2019, Smyrna councilman Travis Lindley told the news station.
“It was in a complete state of disrepair. You wouldn’t even recognize it,” Lindley said. “This (cemetery) was covered in probably 8 to 10 feet of brush. There was some very large oak trees that died. One of them had fallen over.”
The church was founded after the Civil War by former slaves. Slaves and their descendants are buried there.
