History of Greenwood Cemetery
Origins of Tifton/Tift County
(Excerpt from Wikipedia) "Tifton was founded in 1872 in Berrien County at the junction of the Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad and the Brunswick and Western Railroad by sawmill owner Henry H. Tift. Tifton was incorporated as a city in 1890. In 1905, it was designated county seat of the newly formed Tift County."
Land Purchase for Greenwood Cemetery
Greenwood Cemetery dates back to 1890 when the city of Tifton was incorporated by Henry Harding Tift. The Cemetery served as a final resting place for African-American citizens who lived in “Tifton Town,” a township of then Berrien County, Georgia. On April 21, 1928, Henry Harding Tift, Jr., and A.C. Tift (President and Vice President of Tifton Realty Company), deeded close to seven (7) acres of land on Boulevard (now known as Martin Luther King Jr. Drive) to the Colored Cemetery Association for $5 dollars. Trustees of the Association were:
▪ George McGee
▪ Jeff Mathis
▪ George Tyrus