Macedonia Park

Macedonia Park was a settlement in what is now the Buckhead Community of Atlanta, Georgia which was located on the present site of Frankie Allen Park in the Garden Hills neighborhood.

For the association football venue in Perth, Australia, see Macedonia Park, Perth.

History

In the late 1800s Macedonia Park was a black community of about 400 families.[1] In 1921, white developer John Ownes built a subdivision designated for African Americans. The houses were modest, lots were small and narrow and bordered a creek. From 1945–1953, the county acquired owners' properties. Bagley Park was established on the land in the mid-1950s, and was renamed Frankie Allen Park in 1980.[2]

A final affront to the legacy of Macedonia Park came in 2009, when its only physical remnant, the small Mt. Olive church cemetery on the edge of the park, was sold by the county on the courthouse steps for back taxes. Although the county acknowledged its mistake as cemeteries are exempt from property taxes, the sale was final. When a developer applied for a permit to remove the graves, the Buckhead Heritage Society's Wright Mitchell [3] who practices business litigation, filed a lawsuit pro bono on behalf of Elon Butts Osby, a Bagley descendant whose parents had moved to the city's largely undeveloped northwestern fringe after leaving Macedonia Park.

The permit was denied, and Buckhead Heritage adopted the cemetery informally, that is, since the land is still privately owned. In 2015, the group repaired the work of vandals who had toppled several of the headstones.[4]

Shops

Two local grocery shops were owned by Mamie German and William Bagley. Two restaurants served pot roasts. William Bonner owned the blacksmith shop on Pharr Road.

Churches

The Mount Olive Methodist-Episcopal Church was founded here in the early 1900s. The church cemetery remains.[5] Other churches were the Macedonia Baptist Church and the White Lily Baptist Church.

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References
  1. Jacqueline Anne Rouse, Lugenia Burns Hope, Black Southern Reformer, p.64 - Reference to the black community, circa 1900
  2. "Frankie Allen Park"
  3. "Buckhead Heritage Society"
  4. Scott Henry, Atlanta Magazine April 12, 2016
  5. Haines, Errin (September 19, 2009). "Atlanta cemetery at center of legal battle". Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 25, 2009 – via TheGrio.com.

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