Oakland Cemetery is the final resting place of Margaret Mitchell, author of "Gone With The Wind." The grave has an excellent view of the huge towers that now comprise the heart of the city. To visit the grave, look for the bell tower as you enter the cemetery.

This is the oldest city cemetery in Atlanta, and it includes the graves of golf legend Bobby Jones as well as a Confederate soldier section.

City fathers purchased six acres in 1850 to be a public burial ground for a young but fast-growing town that already had a population of more than 2,500.

Originally called Atlanta Graveyard or City Burial Place, Oakland was renamed in 1872. By then it had expanded to 88 acres, mainly due to pressures of the Civil War.

Two historical markers within Oakland describe its connections with momentous events of the Civil War. In 1862, Union operatives known as Andrews Raiders commandeered a locomotive at present-day Kennesaw and raced north to cut telegraph lines. They were captured and condemned as spies. Seven were hanged near Oakland?s southeast corner and interred in the cemetery before removal to the National Cemetery at Chattanooga. On high ground north of the Bell Tower, a two-story farmhouse stood in the summer of 1864. It served as headquarters for Confederate commander John B. Hood during the Battle of Atlanta, which was fought to the east of the cemetery on July 22.

Location:

248 Oakland Avenue SE, Atlanta, Georgia. From I-75 & I-85 North & South: Follow signs to I-20 East. Take Exit 59A to Boulevard. Turn left, head north on Boulevard through two intersections, then turn left onto Memorial Drive. Follow Memorial Drive to Oakland Avenue, turn right, and the entrance to Oakland Cemetery is through the gates ahead about 300 feet on the right.

Date Round America Visited: September 2, 2007.

www.oaklandcemetery.com