southern cemeteries, part I: friendship cemetery

The Friendship Cemetery in Columbus has to be one of the more beautiful cemeteries in the U.S. It's filled with giant magnolia trees, beautiful/terrifying stone angels, and tons of unknown Confederate (and some Union) soldier graves. It's also humongous (65 acres) and was completely empty when I visited, save for the very unsettling sound of magnolia pods crashing onto the ground every 20 seconds.

The story is that the women of Columbus were some of the first in the South to decorate the graves of both Confederate and Union soldiers, thus the name of the cemetery.

The Weeping Angel is by far the most photographed grave in the cemetery. She's the grave marker for the Reverend Thomas Teasdale, who was the pastor for the First Baptist Church and died in 1891.

I also came upon a beautiful swamp in the back of the cemetery. I definitely heard alligator noises while I was taking these photos. Definitely.

Stephen D. Lee is buried here. He was the youngest Confederate Lieutenant General during the Civil War and was the first president of MSU.

Some more shots... The one below with the hand says 'home' underneath.