Weiss Lake Property Daytrip to the Myrtle Hill Cemetery – A Spectacular Cemetery

The Myrtle Hill Cemetery is a spectacular cemetery that stretches on the top of Myrtle Hill at the confluence point of the Etowah and Oostanaula rivers. For over 100 years, this cemetery has served like a guardian angel facing the city of Rome, Georgia overlooking the site of the Battle of Etowah. The cemetery is surrounded by other notable sites.  To the northeast lies the downtown stretches of Rome, to the east lies the Etowah Valley and to the south of the cemetery lies the magnificent foothills of Appalachian mountains which form the mountain ridge on which the Weiss Lake property of The Bluffs lies.

History of Myrtle Hill Cemetery

The cemetery speaks volumes about the historical significance and spectacular vistas in Myrtle Hill Cemetery. In the corner of the cemetery, stands the monument of General Sevier, the governor of Tennessee.  He is known for his deed of killing about 120 Cherokees very near the cemetery site in 1793. This event was the unfortunate consequence of a chain of events, which began with a treaty negotiation and culminated in mass killing of Cherokees.

The real reasons behind such mass killing had its roots elsewhere. In September 1793, General John Seiver descended upon Cherokee, as he was chasing Indians all of whom had brutally killed thirteen people at Cavett's Station near Knoxville. Sevier and his men caught up with the Indians at present day Myrtle Hill and a furious battle started. Altogether a number of Indians were killed including Chief King Fisher. In 1901, the Xavier Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a monument in honor of General Sevier, at the southwest corner of Myrtle Hill.

Significant points of interests in Myrtle Hill Cemetery

The most interesting burial harbored by Myrtle Hill Cemetery is that of Charles Graves, which occurred during the First World War. Charles Graves was an infantryman in the American expeditionary Force, who was killed near the French-German borders in 1918. To honor the wishes of his mother, he was buried in a small cemetery outside Rome as an “Unknown Soldier” . After the death of his mother, his body was disinterred and placed in Myrtle hill. After planting of 34 magnolia trees, and making the cemetery a beautiful place, his burial was given the designation of  “Known Soldier”.

Another interesting point of interest in Myrtle Hill includes the grave of Ellen Axon Wilson, the wife of President Woodrow Wilson. She is the only wife of any United States President to get burial in Georgia.

Following are the other points of interests in Myrtle Hill Cemetery, Georgia:
* Grave of Colonel Daniel R. Mitchell, one of the known founders of Rome.
* A Confederate monument at the top of Myrtle Hill, which was erected by the Women of Rome in the memory of the dead soldiers of Floyd County.
* Grave of Major Zachariah Branscomb Hargrove, another famous founder of Rome.
* Confederate Park – monument of General Nathan B. Forrest and monument to Women of the Confederacy.

You can also visit the famous graves of Thomas Berry, Frances Rhea Berry, Julia Omberg, and Dr. Robert Battey, Alfred Shorter, Martha Baldwin Shorter and the Nathan Bedford Forrest monument.