MACEDONIA AFRICAN METHODIST CHURCH CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1880

ADDITONAL NAMES: Warsaw AME cemetery

AFFILIATION(S):

• Johns Creek Historical Society

HISTORY:

THE CEMETERY

Hidden up a steep winding driveway near one of the busiest intersections in the City of Johns Creek, Georgia is a small African-American cemetery. The Macedonia African Methodist Church Cemetery (also known as Warsaw AME cemetery) is known to be the burial place of at least two who were enslaved and others who were first and second generation descendants of slaves on local farms. The cemetery has been abandoned for years and is in need of headstone repairs, identification of unmarked graves, and research to learn about those buried on the site.

The Johns Creek Historical Society involvement- Several years ago, the Johns Creek Historical Society took on the project of preserving and improving the cemetery by working with the City and by researching those buried at the site. This project is led by Board Member Kirk Canaday.

Our efforts follow those of others. In 1998, the Warsaw Historic Preservation Society was formed and through their efforts, Fulton County obtained a maintenance easement to the property. The group also tried to have an overlay historic district formed for the area surrounding the intersection of Medlock and State Bridge roads. In 2016, Preserve Johns Creek contracted an archaeological survey by New South Associates that mapped marked graves and potential unmarked graves.

BCN Contact Information:

Johns Creek Historical Society

info@johnscreekhistory.org

johnscreekhistory.org

HERNANDO COMMUNITY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1982

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Hernando Community Cemetery is one of two in Hernando, Citrus County Florida that bears the name. This Hernando Cemetery is an active Black cemetery. The first burials in this cemetery were in 1982. This cemetery is well maintained, and the gravestones are in very good condition.

BCN Contact Information:

Thomas Bowen

capttcb035@gmail.com

ROSEWOOD CEMETERY

FOUNDED: dates to late 1800s or early 1900s

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

———

BCN Contact Information:

Edward Gonzalez-Tennant

edward.gonzaleztennant@utrgv.edu

CEDAR KEY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1888, but its graves date back to 1872

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

The Cedar Key Cemetery project scope of work was contracted by Digital Heritage Interactive LLC. The results of this project includes an interactive map based on the field mapping of approximately 1,250 marked burials and other cemetery furniture (e.g., walls, benches) in the Cedar Key Cemetery. This interactive map and the GIS that informs it also includes the results of a GPR survey to identify subsurface anomalies. This project provides new historical information through a complete inventory of all marked burials (as of June 2022) as well as GPR survey of 18 grids containing approximately 90 unmarked burials.

BCN Contact Information:

Edward Gonzalez-Tennant

edward.gonzaleztennant@utrgv.edu

MEMORIAL PARK CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1919

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

Established in 1919, Memorial Park Cemetery is one of the oldest Black American cemeteries in Tampa. The 20-acre cemetery, located in East Tampa, holds over 6,000 burials, although the exact number is unknown. Throughout Memorial Park there are reminders of those who lived, served, and died in the city, from war veterans to the factory workers who made Tampa the Cigar Capital of the World.

In 1923, the southwest portion of Memorial Park Cemetery was dedicated to Black American veterans. This area is marked with the Florida Negro World War Veterans Memorial, and it was funded through the cooperation of the American Legion Women’s Auxiliary and the Booker Washington branch of the Tampa Chapter, American Red Cross. The dedication of this portion of the cemetery was marked with services held by the Tampa Urban League on Memorial Day. At that time, burial space for Black Americans was limited largely to cemeteries outside the city limits of Tampa. The cemetery includes at least one veteran of the American Civil War. Veterans from nearly each 20th century war America participated are interned at Memorial Park Cemetery, representing over 150 years of American military history.

BCN Contact Information:

Tampa Parks and Recreation Department

neris.reyero@tampagov.net

https://www.tampa.gov/parks-and-recreation/parks-and-facilities

SAINTS AND SINNERS CEMETERY

FOUNDED: Unknown

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

———

BCN Contact Information:

Dru Ann Welch

druannwelch@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095457311694

KEYSTONE/CITRUS PARK CEMETERY

FOUNDED: Between 1870-1900

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

This cemetery sits on a property that was once owned by my enslaved great-great-great grandfather Harry Lewis and his son Tony Lewis, who was born free. It was the site of the original Mt. Pleasant A.M.E Church which burned down under a suspicious fire. The church also served as a school for the freed children and the cemetery was operated on the same grounds. Official marriage certificates show related nuptials were held there the same year the Mt. Pleasant AME Church was founded in 1901. The burial grounds are adjacent to the current Mt Pleasant AME Church which was built in the early 1950’s. The burial grounds also stretch to the back of the historical Citrus Park Colored School which rest on land donated by my late great-great grandmother, Barbara Hamilton Allen. Barbara was a widow, mother, grandmother, businesswoman, citrus grower and matriarch of the black community in the Odessa/Keystone Park and Citrus Park area.

BCN Contact Information:

Michele Houston Hicks

gmhoustonhicks2021@gmail.com

BETTON HILLS PLANTATION CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1930’s

ADDITONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY:

The site is all that remains of a much larger cemetery for African Americans dating from the pre-Civil War era through the 1940s. It was the main burial ground for black slaves and servants from the Betton Plantation as well as other surrounding plantations. The plantation system grew in North Florida as cotton plantations to the north depleted their soil from overuse. Prominent early plantations in this region included Goodwood, Waverly, and Live Oak. Turbett Betton was a prominent Tallahassee merchant who purchased roughly 1,200 acres from the Lafayette estate, lying between Thomasville and Centerville Roads. Shortly after Betton’s death in 1863, the land was purchased by Guy Winthrop. The emancipation of the slaves ruined the cotton industry, and many planters turned their land into quail hunting plantations. In 1945, the Winthrop family began subdividing the property for a new housing community called Betton Hills. Henry Watson, buried at the back of the lot with his wife, was one of Winthrop’s servants. However, most of the burials were marked with a simple wooden cross or flowers, and so no longer remain. Evidence of a burial site is marked by elongated depressions in the earth covered with altered vegetation.

BCN Contact Information:

Remus March II

remy663@gmail.com

WIMAUMA MEMORIAL CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1906 (Legal) but dates back to 1860 - 80’s

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

The First Baptist Missionary Church and Cemetery was established in 1878, just thirteen short years after the abolishment of slavery in 1865. Prior to its official establishment, the cemetery was primarily a potter’s fields for the enslaved field workers and railroad workers. We know this because, at the time of its official establishment, there was around 129+ existing graves. Some of these cemetery residents die natural deaths, some from sickness, some by horrible and vicious means inflicted by racists individuals and groups. These neglected African Americans includes United States Military Veterans, ordinary men, women and children who deserve to be honored and their final resting places should be protected from modern day development expansions encroaching in this immediate area. The Church changed its name to First Prospect Missionary Baptist Church and the Cemetery, and the cemetery is now known as the Wimauma Cemetery. This name will be changed to the Wimauma Heritage Cemetery in July, 2022. Descendent of these hard-working men and women still lives in the Wimauma community and, as their ancestors, they are also laid to rest in this historic and holy cemetery grounds.

BCN Contact Information:

Rev. Dr. Doris Barron-Shell

barron8933@icloud.com

OAK TREE UNION COLORED CEMETERY OF TAYLORVILLE (AKA OLD GROVELAND CEMETERY)

FOUNDED: Between 1895-1900

ADDITONAL NAMES: Old Groveland Cemetery

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

This African American Cemetery is believed to have been established between 1895 and 1900, which is around the time the first African Americans came to the Groveland (Taylorville) area to work the citrus groves, turpentine stills, lumber industry and has been abandoned for approximately 70 years. The original name of the cemetery is “Oak Tree Union Colored Cemetery of Taylorville” and is also known locally as “Old Groveland Cemetery”, as the City of Taylorville changed its name to Groveland in 1922. Burials are believed to have stopped sometime in 1951 and it is also believed that there may be 70 or more black residents interred in this 1 ¼ acre site. Several of the headstones that could be found our WWI Veterans who were buried here in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Several of those interred were also members of the Knights of Pythias, an organization dedicated to peace and the belief that any two men who believe in a Supreme Being, can live together in peace and harmony.

Prior to 1922, when Groveland was known as Taylorville, African Americans contributed to the area’s economic wealth by harvesting citrus and turpentine. During this time, the turpentine and lumber industries grew extensively thanks to the arduous work of many African Americans who were unable to find work in surrounding areas due to racial discrimination. Around 1899, Groveland business icon, Elliot Edge brought African American families to the City, who heavily supported Groveland’s economy through their labor in these industries and whose resilience would help them uphold Groveland’s economy during the Great Depression in the 1920s. Among Edge’s notable African American workers are the Gadsden’s, Blue’s, and Hart families, whose contributions to Taylorville (Groveland) have been memorialized in the form of city streets named after them. Our cemetery project team has found grave markers that lead us to believe these historical individuals and possibly their descendants may have been interred there. Former Groveland Councilman John Griffin’s uncle, Samuel Griffin, a World War I veteran, is buried in this cemetery.

BCN Contact Information:

Kevin Carroll

kevin.carroll@groveland-fl.gov

HIGHWAY PARK CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1947

ADDITONAL NAMES: HPCA

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

The Highway Park Cemetery is located in the south end of the unincorporated, predominantly African American community of Highway Park, in Highlands County Florida, about one mile south of the Town of Lake Placid, Florida on U. S. Highway 27. The Highway Park Cemetery Association (HPCA), comprised of a volunteer Board of Directors, manages the affairs of the cemetery.

Documented history of the cemetery's origin is not available, but research is ongoing to uncover this information. The oldest headstone dates back to 1947. However, it is believed that the cemetery was actually established in the 1930's. The Highway Park Cemetery was recently awarded a designation on the National Registry of Historic Places.

BCN Contact Information:

Selvin McGahee

execbro@gmail.com

NORTH GREENWOOD CEMETERY

FOUNDED: Early 1900's and 1940's

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S):

• Clearwater African American Cemeteries Memorial Committee

HISTORY:

North Greenwood Cemetery is located in Clearwater, FL. The City of Clearwater Commission approved annexation allowing Palmetto Elementary School (opened in 1964) to be built over the North Greenwood Cemetery; this annexation comes after the partial relocation of bodies from St. Matthews Baptist Church Cemetery (located under what is now the CRUM parking lot in Clearwater, FL) to the North Greenwood Cemetery site. Current Ground Truthing performed by Cardno reveals not all bodies were moved.

BCN Contact Information:

Barbara Sorey Love

stpetebulletin@gmail.com

MOUNT CARMEL CEMETERY

FOUNDED: mid-1800's

ADDITONAL NAMES: Mount Carmel A.M.E. Church

AFFILIATION(S):

• No national or local groups, but Pasco County is responsible for several historic cemeteries.

HISTORY:

Mount Carmel African Methodist Episcopal Church and cemetery served the historically black community that worked at the Ehren Pine Company sawmill. The congregation folded sometime after the Great Depression and members joined other local churches.

There are many unmarked graves here and the date of the first burial is unknown. Although it is believed that the cemetery dates back to the mid-1800s, the first marked grave is 1903 and the latest is 1954.

In 2006, the Pasco County Black Caucus, in cooperation with the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners and other concerned individuals, initiated efforts to provide recognition and perpetual care of this site.

BCN Contact Information:

Andrew Baxter

abaxter@pascocountyfl.net

pascocountyfl.net

LINCOLN CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1926

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S):

• Lincoln Cemetery Society

HISTORY:

Lincoln Cemetery served as the main burial ground for St. Petersburg's black population from the year it opened in 1926 and throughout the segregation era. Veterans as far back as the U.S. Civil War are buried here, as well as notable civic historical figures. From years of neglect, the cemetery fell into deplorable condition. The Lincoln Cemetery Society Inc. has been established to change that. We hope you feel as compelled as we do to explore and preserve the cemetery's rich history!

BCN Contact Information:

http://www.lincolncemeterysociety.org/

BETHLEHEM METHODIST EPISCOPAL CEMETERY (AL06910)

FOUNDED: 1873

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S):

• FPAN CRPT Alliance

HISTORY:

Bethlehem Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery were established in 1873, when Rev. Major Reddick donated one acre of land to Romeo Reddick, Rinaldo Reddick, Major Reddick, Henry Peterson, Adam Moulton, Richard Doby and Arthur Haynes, trustees. The land was part of a parcel awarded to Reddick through the 1862 Homestead Act. Archer, originally called Deer Hammock, became an economic hub for local plantations, especially after the cross-Florida railroad was built in the 1850s. Sen. David Levy Yulee’s Cottonwood was the most well known of these plantations. At least 25 African Americans who had once been enslaved were interred in the cemetery. Elbert McKinney Sr., born in 1829 in South Carolina, was buried here. McKinney, an enslaved blacksmith at Cottonwood, daily blew a ram’s horn to call the enslaved laborers to work. Ellen Lawrence, born ~1796 and died at the age of 88 in 1884, has the earliest marked grave in the cemetery. James Dansey homesteaded 39.98 acres to the east of Reddick’s donation, but sold the parcel to Rev. Frank Dansey in 1881. Dansey, founder of St. Joseph’s Missionary Baptist Church, began to use 1.28 acres nearest the Reddick donation for burials. Rev. Dansey was buried here in 1911.

BCN Contact Information:

Florida Public Archaeology Network, Central Region

snrudolph@usf.edu

https://bmecro.wordpress.com/

WESTVIEW COMMUNITY CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1940

ADDITONAL NAMES: Pompano Beach Historical Society

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

Westview Community Cemetery is located on the south side of West Copans Road, north of NW 22nd Court. The cemetery is situated in an industrial area with the western most boundary adjacent to Pilot Steel, a steel fabrication company, on the eastern boundary there are self-storage warehouses and other construction related businesses. According to Frank Cavaioli, the Christian Pallbearer Society formed Westview Cemetery during the Great Depression. Local resident Paul Hunter donated the land because the social norms in the City of Pompano Beach prevented the African American community from burial in the established city cemeteries. This was a result of defacto and dejure Jim Crow racial segregation that existed in Florida, and Broward County into the early 1970’s. It was the only cemetery African Americans could be laid to rest in Pompano Beach and among the few in Broward County until the 1960’s. As such, many important African American and Bahamian pioneering families and leaders in the early settlement of Pompano Beach are buried in Westview Community Cemetery. Some of the pioneers that settled this are include members of the Ali, Armbrister, Cason, Cooper, Grooms, McBride, Rhone, Rolle and Wooten families.

BCN Contact Information:

Roberto Fernandez, III

robferna@fiu.edu

NORTH WOODLAWN CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1920

ADDITONAL NAMES: None

AFFILIATION(S): None

HISTORY:

Woodlawn Cemetery was established during the 1920s when government officials restricted the African-American community to the northwest quadrant of Fort Lauderdale. It was the result of institutionalized racial segregation in Broward County from 1927 to 1964, and was the only cemetery African-Americans could be buried in until 1962. As such, many important African-American leaders in the early settlement of Fort Lauderdale are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery. It is the only historic African-American cemetery in Fort Lauderdale, and is considered a rare remaining historic resource associated with the African-American community’s early history.

BCN Contact Information:

Roberto Fernandez, III

robferna@fiu.edu

ZION CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1901

LOCATION: Tampa, FL

AFFILIATION(S):

• The African American Cemetery Alliance of Tampa Bay

• University of South Florida

HISTORY:

Zion cemetery is the oldest African American cemetery in Tampa. The site currently sits underneath Robles Park Housing Complex which is undergoing archaeological excavation.

BCN Contact Information:

Antoinette Jackson

atjackson@usf.edu

https://heritagelab.org/

OAKLAWN CEMETERY

FOUNDED: 1905

LOCATION: St. Petersburg, FL

AFFILIATION(S):

• The African American Alliance of Tampa Bay

• University of South Florida

HISTORY:

The former site of Oaklawn Cemetery in St. Petersburg, Florida is located on land which now serves as VIP Lot 1 parking lot at Tropicana Field. The site was segregated by section after neighboring Evergreen Cemetery (designated for African American burials) required space to expand. The cemetery operated until 1926 when it was decided by city officials to close and condemn the Oaklawn site, as well as nearby Moffett and Evergreen cemeteries. Per city ordinance, persons buried at Oaklawn were to be relocated based on race, with African Americans moved to Lincoln Cemetery and whites moved to Royal Palm Cemetery.

BCN Contact Information:

Antoinette Jackson

atjackson@usf.edu

https://heritagelab.org/