How Cemetery Offices Are Organized Across Georgia

Georgia has 159 counties, and cemetery care is spread across nearly all of them. Our database lists 406 cemetery offices in 172 Georgia cities, from Marietta and Atlanta to smaller towns like Calhoun, Chatsworth, Elberton and Glennville. No single office handles burials statewide. The work is split among city departments, county governments, churches, nonprofit associations and private companies.

That mix matters when you need something done. A family in Newnan, for example, may deal with a municipal office. The Newnan Cemetery Department, at 70 Jefferson Street (770-253-3744), is listed by department name, which usually signals a local-government operation. A family in Lawrenceville may instead call a privately run memorial park such as Gwinnett Memorial Park Cemetery, at 925 Lawrenceville Highway (770-962-7630).

Church and community cemeteries are common in Georgia too. Acworth Mars Hill Cemetery, on Mars Hill Church Road Northwest (770-974-4476), and Poande & Harmony Cemetery, at 690 Beavers Road in Canton (770-479-3343), are examples of the smaller, long-established grounds that dot the state. Many of these have a volunteer board, a part-time caretaker or a small association behind them rather than a full-time staff.

Metro Atlanta, the Coast and Rural Georgia Work Differently

Where you live shapes how easy it is to reach a cemetery office. The pattern is clear in the county counts. Cobb County has the most listings in our database, followed by Fulton County and Gwinnett County. Those three counties hold a large share of the state's cemetery offices because they hold a large share of its people.

In metro Atlanta you will find many privately operated memorial parks, mausoleums and older church grounds within a short drive of each other. North Atlanta Memorial Park & Mausoleum Cemetery, at 5188 Winters Chapel Road in DeKalb County (770-804-1177), is one example. Roswell Green Lawn Cemetery & Mausoleum, at 950 Mansell Road in Fulton County (770-993-4444), is another. Big Bethel Cemetery, on Powder Springs Road Southwest in Marietta, shows the older community-cemetery side of Cobb County. Because choices are plentiful, the useful skill here is comparing options by price, location and services.

The coast has a different feel. In Chatham County, Savannah Belmont Cemetery, at 6410 Garrard Avenue (912-315-3739), sits in a region famous for historic burial grounds such as Bonaventure and Laurel Grove. Farther south, Brunswick Greenwood Cemetery, at 1505 Newcastle Street (912-267-5518), serves Glynn County. In older coastal towns, many families have held plots for generations, so records and ownership questions come up often.

Middle Georgia and the Chattahoochee Valley lean on historic city cemeteries. Macon Old City Cemetery, on 7th Street in Bibb County, and Augusta Cedar Grove Cemetery, at 120 Watkins Street in Richmond County (706-821-1748), belong to cities with long burial histories. Columbus, in Muscogee County, has 13 listings, including Bi City Pet Cemetery at 7110 Jamesson Court (706-569-6644). In the northwest, Rome has 11 listings, among them Livingston Cemetery, at 1364 Fosters Mill Road in Floyd County.

Rural Georgia is where listings thin out and phone numbers get harder to find. Murray Memorial Gardens Cemetery on Georgia 52 in Chatsworth (706-278-5850), Elberton Bethlehem Cemetery on Welcome Church Road (706-283-8857), and Revis Blocker Cemetery Association on Georgia 196 in Glennville (912-654-3266) show the pattern. Offices may keep limited hours. Some answer by voicemail only. In these places, a funeral home often acts as the practical link between the family and the grounds.

Georgia Rules That Touch Burial, Records and Graves

Georgia does not have one agency that licenses every cemetery. Several bodies cover different parts of the process, and knowing which one applies saves time.

Funeral service. Funeral directors and funeral establishments are licensed by the Georgia State Board of Funeral Service. If you have a complaint about a funeral home, that board is the right place to start. It does not manage individual cemetery plots.

Death certificates. The funeral director normally files the death certificate with the Georgia Department of Public Health, which runs the State Office of Vital Records. Families then order certified copies through the state or the county vital records office. Cemeteries generally ask for a burial or cremation authorization and sometimes a copy of the certificate before an interment.

Protection of burial grounds. Georgia law, found in Chapter 72 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, protects burial grounds and sets rules for disturbing or moving graves. Permission from the local governing authority is generally part of that process. This applies to old family plots, unmarked graves and abandoned cemeteries, not only to active commercial grounds.

Veterans. Georgia has state veterans cemeteries in Milledgeville and Glennville, run by the Georgia Department of Veterans Service. The federal government runs Marietta National Cemetery in Marietta and Andersonville National Cemetery in Macon County. Eligibility is based on military service records, so keep the veteran's discharge papers (DD-214) handy.

Local zoning. Cities and counties decide where cemeteries can be built and, in many cases, whether burial on private land is allowed. Anyone considering a family burial on their own property should speak with the county zoning office and the county health department first.

Finding the Right Georgia Cemetery Office

Start with the place where the burial happened or will happen, then work outward. Most requests fall into a few simple categories, and each has a natural first call.

Some listings in our database, such as Macon Old City Cemetery, Cedar Lane Cemetery in Milledgeville and Big Bethel Cemetery in Marietta, do not show a phone number. In those cases, try the city or county office that covers the area. A nearby funeral home can also point you to the right caretaker or association.

Fees and rules vary widely by cemetery. A city-run grounds in a small county may charge very differently from a private memorial park in Cobb County. Ask for prices in writing, and ask what is included in the opening and closing charge, the marker foundation and any perpetual care arrangement. Take your time. Georgia families usually have no deadline that forces a same-day decision about a plot, so comparing two or three cemeteries is reasonable.

Finally, remember that many Georgia cemeteries are old, and records can be incomplete. If your family history points to a rural churchyard, call the church first. Congregations often keep their own burial lists that never reached any county database. Bring what you know: names, dates, the community where the family lived and, if possible, an old obituary.

Government cemeteries in Georgia include facilities administered by the VA's National Cemetery Administration, state veterans cemeteries funded through state and federal partnerships, and local municipal and county cemeteries operated by city and county governments throughout the state.

Cemetery locations are available in 172 cities across Georgia. They are spread across 112 counties.

Cities with the highest concentration include Marietta, Atlanta, Columbus, where established municipal cemeteries have served their communities for generations and maintain extensive historical burial records.

Veterans in Georgia may be eligible for burial in a state veterans cemetery at little or no cost. Contact the Georgia Department of Veterans Affairs or Veterans Services to confirm eligibility requirements and available state-operated facilities.

Cemetery by Counties

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Families and genealogists in Georgia can often request burial records from municipal cemetery offices or search online databases maintained by state archives and historical societies. Many Georgia counties have digitized older cemetery records that are available through county clerk or public library genealogy collections.

Browse Cemetery by county across Georgia to find the nearest location.

Planning a Cemetery Visit or Records Search in Georgia

Georgia's climate affects cemetery visits more than people expect. Summer heat and humidity are heavy, and grass grows fast from spring through early fall. Older grounds in the Piedmont and on the coast can have uneven paths, sunken graves and fallen limbs after storms. Go in the morning, wear sturdy shoes and carry water. If you plan to photograph stones or clean a family marker, ask the office first, because some cemeteries restrict what products or tools you can use on historic stones.

For a records search, bring the full name, approximate dates and the county where the person lived. Offices in places like Muscogee County and Floyd County may be able to search by name if the cemetery keeps its own register. Smaller grounds may only have a hand-drawn map. Be patient, be polite and keep notes on who you spoke with.

Georgia has no single office that oversees every cemetery. Funeral directors and funeral establishments are licensed by the Georgia State Board of Funeral Service, which handles complaints about funeral homes. Cemetery grounds are managed by cities, counties, churches, associations or private owners, and local zoning decides where new ones can be built. State law in Chapter 72 of Title 36 of the Georgia Code also protects burial grounds from being disturbed without proper approval. For a plot, pricing or maintenance problem, start with the cemetery office, then the city or county government.

Begin with the county or town where the person lived or died. Call the likely cemetery office with the full name and approximate death date. If you do not know the cemetery, check the obituary or ask the funeral home that handled the service. Statewide death certificates in Georgia began in 1919, and the Georgia Department of Public Health's State Office of Vital Records issues certified copies to eligible requesters. For older burials, church records, county historical societies and the Georgia Archives can help. Smaller rural cemeteries may have no digital index at all.

Family burial grounds exist all over rural Georgia, but the rules depend on the county. Before planning one, contact the county zoning office and the county health department to learn what is allowed on your parcel, including distance from wells, streams and property lines. Make sure the death is properly certified and recorded. Once a burial ground exists, Georgia law protects it, and later owners of the land cannot simply remove it. Record the exact location in your property papers and tell other family members, so the grave is not lost when the land changes hands.

Do not dig, move stones or clear heavy growth without permission. Georgia treats burial grounds as protected, even when they are overgrown or lost on private property. Take photographs, note the location and contact the county government, which may direct you to the right local office. A county historical society or genealogy group can also help document the site. If you are the landowner and plan construction nearby, talk to the county before work begins, because disturbing graves generally requires approval from the local governing authority.

Georgia has state veterans memorial cemeteries in Milledgeville and Glennville, operated by the Georgia Department of Veterans Service. Federal options include Marietta National Cemetery and Andersonville National Cemetery. Eligibility depends on the veteran's service record, so gather the DD-214 or other discharge papers early and give them to the funeral director. Call the specific cemetery before making plans to confirm current rules, scheduling and what the cemetery provides. Many veterans also choose a local city or county cemetery near family, so a veterans cemetery is an option, not a requirement.

Yes. Our database includes Bi City Pet Cemetery at 7110 Jamesson Court in Columbus, reachable at 706-569-6644. Pet cemeteries are separate from human cemeteries, and most human grounds do not accept animal remains. Ask any pet cemetery about plot sizes, cremation burial options, marker rules and whether records are kept. If you are considering burying a pet at home, check local zoning and county health guidance, and think about utility lines and future land use first.

Several older community cemeteries, such as Macon Old City Cemetery on 7th Street and Cedar Lane Cemetery on Lawrence Road in Milledgeville, appear without a phone number. Try the city hall or county government for the area, since many historic cemeteries are tied to a local government or a volunteer board. A nearby funeral home can often name the caretaker. For church cemeteries, call the congregation. You can also visit in person and look for a posted contact sign near the entrance or gate.