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Protecting Rights & Preserving Heritage
Established in 1868, Zion Hill Cemetery, a historic African American Baptist Burial Site in Monroe, Georgia, fell into a state of abandonment. For decades, land surrounding the site was developed and the cemetery, comprised of mostly unmarked graves, became over-run with weeds and debris. Markers were broken and fallen, and scrap metal had been discarded and buried beside graves. Since 2018 ongoing dedicated efforts to research, restore and preserve the cemetery lead by historic preservationist, Elizabeth Jones, with support from community volunteers, have been underway. The transformation is inspiring.
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Cultivating Community Through Service
Elizabeth Jones of Monroe, Georgia (picture right) organized a stewardship group in 2018 and created a Facebook page, Friends of Zion Hill Cemetery Monroe, Georgia to help connect the ongoing project with the community. Currently, the group holds at least two site work days each month. Friends of Zion Hill Cemetery will continue to engage the community in stewardship efforts including the continued removal of invasive species, the cleaning of gravestones with D/2 solution, installation of granite markers, and planting perennials. Work days have been a wonderful way for diverse community members to gather and make new friends.
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Locating & Marking Probable Burials
Before Emancipation, slavery laws in Georgia prevented Black people from reading and writing. Graves were often marked with heritage plants or rocks, even after the laws were lifted, making it difficult to identify the location of all burials. Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR), a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface, is a non-intrusive method of surveying the probable location of burials. Our GPR process has identified ~1300 probable burials. With grant funding and volunteer labor, we’ve begun to purchase and install granite markers to mark these graves.
Origin Story
Zion Hill Cemetery, a historic African American Baptist Burial Site, was established in 1868 as a “colored cemetery” for the Zion Hill Colored Baptist Church in Monroe, Georgia shortly after the Civil War. Land was purchased by former enslaved man Cyrus Briscoe from his former enslaver, Waters Briscoe. Cyrus sold a portion of the land to church trustees. Church records indicate in 1868, a log cabin was built for use as the “Colored People Church.” In 1870, a wooden structure was built next to the log cabin. The church changed its name to Zion Hill Colored Baptist Church. After a few months, about 20 church members pulled away and formed the Tabernacle Baptist Church. In 1949, Zion Hill Church reunited with the Tabernacle Baptist Church under the name, First African Baptist Church. The church divided in 1953, and the First African Baptist Church and Tabernacle Baptist Church moved to new locations, abandoning the Zion Hill Cemetery site and leaving it vulnerable.
“I came over here and I was just enthralled, so I kept thinking about it and I just decided… let’s do something.”
— Elizabeth Jones, President of Preserve & Serve Georgia Inc. and Zion Hill Cemetery Project Manager
Revealing Our History, One Marker at a Time
On August 1, 2020 Elizabeth lead volunteers with help from the Monroe Fire Department to clean gravestones with a non-hazardous and biodegradable D/2 Biological Solution. Within three-six weeks stones became easier to read so we could identify names and inscriptions, and increase our ability to connect with families and further research to help document stories from community members buried at Zion Hill Cemetery in Monroe, Georgia. If you have a family member buried in this cemetery, please contact us so we can connect with you.
About Elizabeth Jones, Project Manager
Elizabeth Jones is the President of Preserve & Serve Georgia, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit organization, and Project Manager of Friends of Zion Hill Cemetery. A native Georgian, she was grew up in Bishop and has lived in Monroe for nearly 20 years. Elizabeth holds a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Management (with a specialization in Human Services Non-Profit) and is currently finishing her thesis for a Master of Historic Preservation from the University of Georgia College of Environment and Design. She’s been awarded numerous grants for her work on the Zion Hill Cemetery Project including the 2022 and 2020 University of Georgia Graduate School “Communication of Research and Scholarship” grant; 2020 and 2019 National Council for Preservation Education “Communicating the Value of Historic Preservation” grant; 2021 and 2020 Historic Landscape Preservation Grant from the Garden Club of Georgia, 2021 Watson Brown grant, and 2020 grant from the Walker Foundation (through the Monroe Museum). She is the Chairperson of the Historic Preservation Commission for the City of Monroe, serves on the Monroe Museum Board of Directors, and is an active member of First African Baptist Church.
Zion Hill Cemetery Site Featured in 2022 Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation: Monroe Expedition on August 13, 2022
Zion Hill Cemetery Press & Presentations
The Walton Tribune | Zion Hill Cemetery continues to receive hands-on care | January 18, 2023
The Walton Tribune | Braving the Cold to Help on MLK Day | January 18, 2022
The Walton Tribune | A Day of Service | January 20, 2021
Walton Living Magazine | Gone But Not Forgotten | Fall/Winter Issue 2019 (Page 60)
Sign Up to Volunteer or Contribute
Feel free to contact us with your interest to volunteer and/or to make a financial or in-kind donation to support the Zion Hill Cemetery Project managed by Preserve & Serve Georgia, Inc., a 501c3 organization. We are currently raising funds to purchase remaining granite markers for unmarked graves; to create and install interpretive signage to educate visitors; to purchase benches to encourage visitors to stay and reflect; and to establish a Scattering Garden for loved ones to scatter ashes of the deceased in the cemetery.
See the Zion Hill Cemetery restoration and preservation story featured in award-winning documentary feature film UNSPOKEN now screening at film festivals nationwide.
"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid."
— MATTHEW 5:14