Old City Cemetery (Jacksonville, Florida) Explained

Old City Cemetery
Location:	Jacksonville, Florida
Built:	1852

The Old City Cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida was established in 1852 as Jacksonville's main burial ground.^[1] After the American Civil War the cemetery later interred many Confederate veterans and veterans of the Union Army’s United States Colored Troops. Because the cemetery is over 160 years old, the Jacksonville Historic Landmarks Commission has deemed it a historic landmark of Jacksonville. The United Daughters of the Confederacy placed a historical plaque for the cemetery in 1949 and then a wall at the entrance of the cemetery in 1954.^[2]

Notable burials

Notable individuals buried at the cemetery include:

• Byron Kilbourn (1801–1870), surveyor, railroad executive, business magnate and politician who was an important figure in the founding of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the city's third and eighth mayor
• Captain Jacob Brock (1810–1876), steamboat captain operating on the St. Johns River
• Joseph Finnegan (1814–1885), brigadier general of the Confederate States Army
• John Freeman Young (1820–1885), second bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida, renown for his translation of Christmas carol Silent Night, Holy Night (German: Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht) from German to English
• Francis P. Fleming (1841–1908), 15th Governor of Florida
• John Claudius “Claude” L'Engle (1868–1919), Democratic Representative from Florida to the Sixty-third Congress
• Dr. Alexander H. Darnes (1846–1894), the first African-American physician in Jacksonville and the second in the state
• Laura Adorkor "Mother Kofi" Kofi (1893–1928), founder of the African Universal Church
• Alice Nunn (1927–1988), actress, remembered for her role as "Large Marge" in Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

Decay and vandalism

Despite being one of the oldest and most historical cemeteries in Jacksonville it has been neglected and in decay. Due to the increased downtown urbanization around the cemetery and poor security it has endured vandalism over the years. Some gravestones have been damaged or simply toppled over in certain areas of the cemetery.^[3]

External links

• • Florida Times-Union
• Florida Public Archaeology Network

30.3324°N -81.6488°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: A Walk Through History: Old City Cemetery. metrojacksonville.com. Metro Jacksonville. September 25, 2014.
2. Web site: Old City Cemetery. flpublicarchaeology.org. Florida Public Archaeology Network. September 25, 2014.
3. Web site: Scanlan. Dan. Jacksonville's historic Old City Cemetery vandalized. jacksonville.com. Florida Times-Union. September 25, 2014.