Isaac Nettles Gravestones

Isaac Nettles Gravestones
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Marker for "Mother" Nettles, born January 1859 and died July 6, 1933
Nearest city	Carlton, Alabama
Coordinates	31°20′47″N 87°52′5″W / 31.34639°N 87.86806°WCoordinates: 31°20′47″N 87°52′5″W / 31.34639°N 87.86806°W
Area	less than one acre
Architect	Nettles, Issac Sr.
MPS	Clarke County MPS
NRHP Reference #	00000141[1]
Added to NRHP	February 24, 2000

The Isaac Nettles Gravestones are three unusual headstones in the Mount Nebo Baptist Church Cemetery near Carlton in rural Clarke County, Alabama. Surveyed for the National Register of Historic Places' Clarke County Multiple Property Submission, they were added to the Register on February 24, 2000.^[1]

Mount Nebo Baptist Church, a traditionally African American Baptist church, was established in the 19th century. The three Nettles markers are made of concrete and feature death masks, presumed by scholars to be of the people whose graves they mark. They are attributed to Isaac "Ike" Nettles, a local man who created them between 1933 and 1946. When surveyed in 2000 the markers had not weathered well, with only the most ornate one, with three individual masks on one marker, in good condition.^[2]

Marker for Ezella Nettles, inscribed with "Angel" and "Six Dollies"  Broken marker for Manul Burell, died 1946

References

1. National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. "Clarke County MPS" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved February 26, 2011.

External links

Media related to Isaac Nettles Gravestones at Wikimedia Commons