Tybee Island in Chatham County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)

Tybee Memorial Cemetery

Photographed by Brandon D Cross

1. Tybee Memorial Cemetery Marker (top)

Inscription.
(Top)
This is the only cemetery on Tybee Island and much of its history remains shrouded in mystery. It is believed that the township established a small plot of land in the 1870s to provide victims of shipwrecks (and other drowning victims) a final resting place. George Hale Wortham farmed this land at that time and apparently received approval to use the site as a family burial plot. Five members of the Wortham family are buried here and descendants still live in the area.

With development on Tybee, those interred in private burial plots were relocated here. Descendants of witnesses to the re-burials continue to offer accounts of the events to this day.

The Town of Tybee inventoried the cemetery in 1922 and identified 18 people thought to be buried here. Fourteen, 12 of whom were included in the Town’s 1922 inventory, remain identified by markers. Records of the locations of the remains of Frank Piotti (D. 1922), Mr. Bergman, Mrs. McKenzie, and three infants (S.W. Sullivan, 1916; Aron Maxwell Gibson, 1921; and Bernard Sanders, 1922) have been lost. Shortly after that inventory the town suddenly closed the cemetery

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with no recorded explanation. Thirty years later it reluctantly yielded to the petitions of the Jennings family and allowed the ashes of William Jennings to be placed here.

Ground penetrating radar was used in 2004 to locate 36 potential burial sites in the vicinity of the cemetery are now enclosed within the wrought iron fence.

To all the known and unknown people buried here we offer our respect and assurance that you are not forgotten. May you rest in peace.

The Tybee Beautification Association thanks all the friends of Tybee who made this restoration project possible. Some of the contributors are listed below. April 3, 2005 (Front)
Contributors All Saints Episcopal Mission • Doree B. Anderson • Leon & Barbara Aronson • Michael & Sara Bart • Walker & Betty Beeson • Douglas & Gloria Bennett • Thomas & Mary H. Beytaga • Joel & Brenda Boddiford • Dr. & Mrs. Sidney J. Bloch III • Dr. & Mrs. Patrick Bremer • Lucile Clinton Brooks • Raul & Carlyle Buelvas • J.T. (Jack) Byrnes Descendants • Cullen & Christine Chambers • The Chu Family • Tommy & Frances Clark • The Eddie Crone Family • Darby Bank & Trust Company • Burke & Sally

Tybee Memorial Cemetery Marker (front) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Brandon D Cross

2. Tybee Memorial Cemetery Marker (front)

Day • Richard & Mae DeLoach • Paul & Paula DeVito • In Memory of Charles Andrew Dowell • In Memory of Hettie Ann Williams Dowell • Reed & Susan Dulany • Ruth Jennings Edwards • Marvin & Carole Epstein • Jim & Georgia Fogarty • Jim & Jewel Foley • Richard & Nancy Frankenhauser • Curley & Dee Freyermuth • James & Kathy Gilker • Ron & Linda Gladin • Bernie & Beverly Goode • Kevin Goode Obx • Mathew Goode • Cornelia R. Groves • Steve & Teri Gruendl • In Memory of Charles “Bud” Hackney, Sr. • Don & LoAnn Harris • Randy & Laura Hensley • Jack Higham & Pam Hearon • Daniel & Susan Hill • In Memory of Gene Hollingsworth & Jan Clark • Marge Horton • Mr. & Mrs. Tom Horton • Mr. & Mrs. Edward M. Hughes • Phillip & Betty Hunter • John & Jeanne Hutton • Mr. & Mrs. Charles W. Jennings • In Memory of Don Johnson • Roy & Jane Johnson • William O. & Joyce Johnson • Allan & Sara Jones • Bob & Anne Jones • Diane Willard Kaufman • Jimmy & Susan Kelleher • The Klines • Jim & Dottie Kluttz • In Memory of Russell G. Knauz • Anne Clanton Knecht • Mr. & Mrs. Michael Leonard, Sr. • John & Sandy Major • The McNaughton Family • Men’s Prayer Breakfast • Jim & Mary

Tybee Memorial Cemetery Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Brandon D Cross

3. Tybee Memorial Cemetery Marker

Ann Miller • Jim & Anne Monaghan • Gordon & Kay Morrow • National Bank of Commerce • John & Judy O’Neil • Optimist Club of Tybee Island • The Henry Parkman Family • In Memory of Gertrude Smith Parnell • The Karsanbhal Patel Family • The Raman B. Patel Family • Gene & Jane Patnode • David & Sandi Postel • Publix Supermarkets • Whitley & Cheryl Reynolds • Marie Rodriguez & Mimi Rissman • J.R. Roseberry • Saint Michael Parrish • Louise E. Sassed • Michael & Iris Scarbrough • Shirley C. Sessions • James & Jean Shelley • Chris & Sandy Simon & Family & bull; Craig & Deborah Sinclair • Southern States Educational Foundation • Bill & Liz Sprague • Sheldon & Zelda Tenenbaum • John & Sara Thomas • E. William Thomson • Herbert S. Traub, Jr. • Trinity Chapel United Methodist Church • City of Tybee Island • Tybee Arts Association • Tybee Beautification Association • Tybee Island Garden Club • Tybee Island Historical Society • Wal Mart Foundation • Bill & Martha Walsh • William R. Warnock • Ike W. Weatherly, Jr. • O.C. Welch III • Louise W. White • Irene P. Williams • Steve & Kathryn Williams • Paul Wolff & Annie Quinting • Joel Worth & Lynn Hamilton

Erected 2005

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by Tybee Beautification Association.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Cemeteries & Burial Sites. A significant historical year for this entry is 1870.

Location. 32° 0.507′ N, 80° 50.665′ W. Marker is on Tybee Island, Georgia, in Chatham County. It can be reached from the intersection of Jones Avenue and Center Street, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 4098 Center Street, Tybee Island GA 31328, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Georgia’s Coastal Plain, on the Georgia Coast and the Golden Isles,

in Greater Savannah,

and on the Sea Islands.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: A School Lesson (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Tybee Island Veterans Memorial (about 400 feet away); The Second Tybee Island Elementary School (about 400 feet away); Korean and Vietnam Veterans Memorial (about 500 feet away); World War II Memorial (about 500 feet away); City Hall - 1940 (about 500 feet away); Anchor (approx. 0.3 miles away); Dorothy and Grace Jackson, Lighthouse Keepers Daughters (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Tybee Island.

Also see . . . Looking for Pearls: Mysteries and memories at Tybee Cemetery. (Submitted on July 24, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on July 24, 2024. It was originally submitted on July 24, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 730 times since then and 95 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on July 24, 2024, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.