The historic Shermantown community is a hidden jewel tucked behind Stone Mountain Village. Historians say the neighborhood once housed Stone Mountain’s African-American residents during the time of segregation. Long-time residents are now calling for the neighborhood to be preserved, with fears of it becoming forgotten.
Mary Beth Reed, a historian with the New South Associates says Shermantown was a product of the post-Civil War era.
Gloria Brown has spent her entire life in Shermantown. She describes how the community is drenched with black history and Ku Klux Klan encounters. She fears its rich history is slowly fading away.
“It pains me because there’s so many people that move here and never heard it called Shermantown,” Brown says.
Shermantown doesn’t pop up on a GPS. Only two signs serve as a reminder of the historic African-American neighborhood. The community was once part of a segregated society during a challenging era for the South and for African-Americans.
Calvin Hall-Benifield says he always hoped for better days.
“America didn’t see me that way, but I always felt equal,” he describes.
Calvin Hall-Benifield recalls growing up watching Ku Klux Klan members drive through Shermantown, headed towards the top of Stone mountain for cross burning ceremonies.
“They had their masks on. When they come down from their meetings, they say all kinds of racial things,” Hall-Benifield says.
Historians say the Ku Klux Klan had a revival in the early 1900’s on top of Stone Mountain. For decades, Shermantown had a front row seat to watch their rituals.
Brown says she could see it from the front porch of her Shermantown home.
“They burned a huge cross. You could see it from miles away,” Brown says.
Mary Beth Reed with the New South Associates says Shermantown’s history is complex and needs to be preserved immediately. She believes some of its history is only living on through oral history.
“We have to start looking at these threads to get a better sense of history here,” she says.
Longtime residents are urging for Shermantown’s history to be preserved immediately before it’s forgotten.
“People coming in are not familiar with the history. And don’t care about the history, and they don’t even know it’s Shermantown,” Hall-Benifield said.
The New South Associates, a local business that specializes in cultural resources, is making efforts to help collect bits and pieces of Shermantown’s past, to start the process of preservation.
