The first thing many people notice when entering the gates of Oakland is the mausoleum of Jasper Newton Smith, on which sits a striking life-size statue of Smith himself. Smith was a businessman and real estate investor who rose to prominence in post-war Reconstruction Era Atlanta. Smith was well known for refusing to wear a necktie due to a bad experience as a child. Therefore, one story describing the creation of his statue notes that when the artist sculpted him wearing a cravat, Smith refused to pay until the offending item had been chiseled off. Another story notes that Smith once travelled to the cemetery to personally remove a vine that had wrapped around the neck of the statue.