61 Covered Bridge Road | Euharlee, Georgia 30145

The Black Pioneers Cemetery is a one-acre burial ground that lies between the Euharlee Presbyterian and Euharlee Baptist Churches. The cemetery was used for the burial of enslaved members of the Euharlee churches prior to the Civil War, and for African American residents of the area through the early 1900s. Most of the graves were originally unmarked. By the 1990s, the cemetery was overgrown and virtually forgotten by many in Euharlee.

The Euharlee Historical Society, the Etowah Valley Historical Society, and the City of Euharlee undertook the task of clearing the cemetery and identifying graves in the late 1990s. EVHS member, Carl Etheridge conducted an archaeological investigation to determine the location of the graves in the cemetery. Using dowsing rods and probes, over three hundred graves were found. Of the 333 known burials in the cemetery, only three individuals have been identified: Het Powell, a former slave, midwife, and housekeeper, her daughter, Ada, and a local man named Jim Scott. In August 2002, the Euharlee Historical Society erected and dedicated a permanent marker in memory of those buried. In 2007, Eagle Scout John Daniels and his troop placed wooden crosses at each grave.

Het Powell
Het Powell was born in 1830 into slavery in South Carolina and brought to Euharlee with slaveholder, Mrs. Meek Powell. With her came her husband Johnson and three of her four children. Her son, Lee, was sold to a different slaveholder and Het never saw him again. After emancipation, “Aunt Het,” as she was called by many in the area, worked as a midwife and housekeeper. Her descendants indicate that she is buried in this cemetery, along with her daughter Ada.

For more information, please contact:
Euharlee Welcome Center and History Museum
770-607-2017, 33 Covered Bridge Road, Euharlee, GA 30145,
Euharleehistory.org, kodom@euharlee.com