Parsons Cemetery, third or fourth largest cemetery in Decatur County, is bounded by Fourth Street, Perryville Road, Fifth Street, and Carolina Avenue. It is shown on the U.S.G.S. Jeanette quadrangle (1986) as the unnamed cemetery between the label "Water" and the label "Parsons." The cemetery designated on the quadrangle as "Parsons Cem" to the southeast is Clay Cemetery, the city's old negro cemetery.



Parsons Cemetery is divided into two sections. The newer western section originally was to have been a memorial garden type cemetery with flush-to-the-ground markers for easy mowing. However, this plan has not been enforced. This section may be called Parsons Memorial Gardens in some obituaries from the 1970s and 1980s. All black burials in Parsons Cemetery are grouped together in a small area within this section.



David Donahue recorded Parsons Cemetery in late spring 1991 and updated it in 1996 and 2001. He checked and updated the cemetery over several visits in 2003 and updated the West Section in Dec. 2003. Scott and Tuten recorded Parsons Cemetery in 1977.



Although nothing clearly distinguishes black burials within the western section of Parsons Cemetery, these burials are grouped together within a small area and are believed to be blacks. Parham, Rawls, and Stephenson-Shaw are funeral homes which serve their black communities. Decatur County Funeral Home is not associated with the black community like the others but does seems to be handling black burials in the Parsons area since the demise of Parham Mortuary.