Continuing my self guided historical tour of Lake Worth found me at I.A. Banks Memorial Park, a…read morehistorically black cemetery. The cemetery was originally called the Osborne Municipal Cemetery. It was renamed I. A. Banks Memorial Park in 1983 in honor of Reverend I. A. Banks (1890 - 1975). Reverend Banks was the founder and 35 year pastor of New Hope Baptist Church which is located diagonally across the street from the cemetery. In 1885 Samuel and Fannie James, believed to be former slaves, were among the first people to homestead this area before it became Lake Worth. Fannie petitioned for and operated the first post office in what was then called Jewell. In 1914 other Bahamians and African-Americans settled in between Lake Worth and Lantana which was the only area they were permitted to be in due to segregation. When Lake Worth's first municipal cemetery Pine Crest was created in 1923, it was whites only. Blacks had to be buried in Boynton Beach or West Palm Beach. In 1960, Lake Worth established the 1.5-acre Osborne Municipal Cemetery for black residents. The first cemetery care taker was David U. Millines. Recently the city paid to have the cemetery fenced in for added security. I.A. Banks Memorial Park contains 262 graves including veterans. This cemetery is part of the Florida Historical Marker Program, one of the Division of Historical Resources' most popular and valued public history programs. It raises awareness of Florida's cultural history while enhancing the enjoyment of historic sites for residents and tourists. The blue historic markers tell the stories of the people and places that were important to Florida's history and they can be found in front of churches, schools, buildings, roads, archaeological sites, battlefields, and cemeteries like this one. Historic marker F-1234 was installed in 2023 by the City of Lake Worth Beach and the Florida Department of State.

This is a historic cemetery founded in 1892 by the Evergreen Cemetery Company in what was then…read moreknown as Lantana Point. The land for the cemetery was purchased by Morris B. Lyman, the founder of Lantana. The cemetery is a city block long and 85 feet wide. There are 20 headstones but an unknown number of African-Americans and sailors washed up on the beaches are also buried here. There is also a mass grave containing victims of the 1928 Hurricane. The earliest grave here is from 1886. Morris B. Lyman and his father, Morris K. Lyman are buried here. In addition to founding the town, Morris was also the towns first postmaster. He chose the name Lantana for the flowering plant that grew in the area. Sadly soon after Morris purchased the cemetery, he and his wife Mary buried their nine month old daughter, Bertha Rachel. Also buried in this cemetery is Dan McCarley, the areas first Barefoot Mailman. The Barefoot Mailmen were US postal workers who delivered the mail in South Florida from 1885 to 1893 by walking barefoot on the beach from Palm Beach to Miami. Dan also became Lantana's first chief of police. Burials in the cemetery ended in 1950 so that the only people buried here are city pioneers. The City of Lantana currently owns the cemetery and in 2012 a fence was installed. In the center of the cemetery is a large Banyan tree. A historical marker was installed explaining the historical significance of this cemetery. This is a well maintained an excellent place to explore the history of this quaint beach side town.

The 12.3 acre Boynton Beach Memorial Park and Mausoleum is where you can find the pioneer families…read moreof Boynton Beach like Harvey Oyer Sr., one of the town's first mayors. This is one of two city owned cemeteries, the other is Sara Simms Memorial Gardens. The cemetery was created in 1900 when it was a vacant piece of land where residents buried family members. It is believed the oldest burial is from between 1903 to 1906. In 1947 Green Street which is now Seacrest Blvd. was extended which required 23 feet from the cemetery. As a result some of the graves are directly up against the fence. The city purchased the land in the 1950's from the developer of High Point. There may be more bodies than markers as they have degraded through the years, especially if they were wood instead of marble. The old section of the cemetery is on the east side while newer burials are on the west side. The mausoleum on the west side of the cemetery has a stained glass mural created by Conrad Pickel who created the stained glass in many of the churches in the area. He also created a statue of a child called Loaned from Heaven that is in the children's section of the cemetery. Burials have now been limited to Boynton Beacjh residents because space has run out. The cemetery has been re-platted several times to make more room. It is only $500 dollars for a plot here for city residents compared to the $1,000 private cemeteries in the area charge. Once the cemetery is full the city will still maintain it but will cut down on their cost. If you are looking for the history of Boynton Beach, this is a good place to start.

What a wonderful venue for families, couple, singles, BD parties. Beautiful surroundings that…read moreare family owned and run! My husband and I took are grandchildren there today and our 8 year old was in the middle of a major meltdown when we arrived. I remained in the parking lot with him trying to calm him down while my husband went ahead with the other two. The owners saw us from their office window and came out to offer their help. Thanks to them my grandson calmed down. They invited him to sit on the patio and gave him his choice of a cool drink and snack. They saved the day! We are definitely going back. Also, their prices are very affordable.

Huge selection, prices not the best but ‍ staff super helpful. Neat and clean place and they offer…read moreprinting services

Run around all day trying to get a hold of someone. They transferred me to a lady who was…read morepositioned feet away from the person I was trying to speak with, but she wouldn't let the person know I'm calling. She simply said she's at her desk basically doing nothing, just call the number that I told her I was calling a few times and she'd answer. I figured at least we know this person is at her desk, but then, I called and still no answer.

The Deerfield Beach Parks and Recreation Department maintains this municipal cemetery as well as…read morePineview Cemetery. The city of Deerfield Beach sells the plots as well as maintains the ground. Dating from the 1800's African Americans in Deerfield Beach were buried in unmarked graves in a 3 acre plot known only as the Old Colored Plot. African American's who came to Florida to work on the railroad were buried there. The 3 acres were slated to be developed into condos until community members complained. Upon further study bodies were found on the site and now the city is in the process of turning that land into a memorial park. Pineview Cemetery took the place of the old colored cemetery and African Americans were exclusively buried there. Deerfield Beach Memorial Cemetery was the all white cemetery. The land was donated to the city in 1933 by William L. Kester, a merchandise importer who made the stipulation that the land he was giving must be solely used as a cemetery for the Caucasian race. 54 years later in 1987 that changed when the city was sued by the widow of Mayo Howard, who was the second highest ranking black officer in the history of the city's police force. She claimed that the city told her that her husband could not be buried in Memorial Cemetery because of his race. The city denied her claim and reached an out of court settlement where his widow Evelyn received a small settlement, was issued an apology, and Howards body was moved from Pineview into Memorial. Kester's descendants have since issued the statement that they have no problem removing the race clause from the deed. It was common in the 1920's and 1930's for land deeds in Broward county to have race clauses. Although Howard was the first African American to be buried in Memorial he was not the last and the cemetery is integrated now. I came by on a Saturday afternoon to explore the cemetery from a historical perspective. It is located across the street from Pioneer Park. Cemetery residents include Deerfield Beach pioneers James D. and Alice Butler. The Deerfield Beach Historical Society operates a museum in their former home. Unlike some other cemeteries I have visited in South Florida this one is extremely well maintained. The city is doing an excellent job maintaining the grounds. I saw a grave underneath a tree dating back to a soldier from the Spanish American War and the graves of babies from the 30's and 40's when infant mortality was high. To visit this cemetery is to pay respect to the men and women who built Deerfield Beach into the thriving multicultural city it is today.

I would have thought this little piece of land would have so much history. This is a historica…read morecemetery and park. It is nice inside. It has nice walking trails that take you around. A few benches around. The park is well kept and it is also fenced in. The entrances are on the side. No pets are allowed here. It was a cool discovery for me.

Branhilda-Richardson Knowles Memorial Park is a cemetery but there aren't any headstones. This is a…read morehistoric African-American cemetery but no one is sure where the bodies lay anymore. Hundreds of people are buried in what was once called the "Old Colored Cemetery." It is believed there may be as many as 300 bodies buried here including that of a Union soldier, the great grandfather of a city commissioner, and the daughter of a slave. Many of the people were from the Bahamas and they came to live and work in the city of Deerfield Beach. The internment's took place between 1897 and the 1950's. After being used as a cemetery the land was sold and the headstones removed. The majority of the city commission had voted to allow 69 condo units to be built on the site despite the objections of people in the neighborhood who told them their relatives were buried there. The developer was forced to do three archeological surveys of the land which revealed bodies over 20 acres. At that point the city purchased the land from the developer for one million dollars. Another $400,000 was set aside for the design and building of a cemetery. The city decided to name the cemetery after Branhilda-Richardson Knowles, a midwife who delivered most of the cities African-American babies in the early 20th century since Jim Crow era laws prevented them from being born in hospitals. It was these same laws that forced them to be buried here. The design of this 3.3 acre cemetery is based on Arlington National Cemetery and it has trees lined up to replace the headstones that don't exist. The cemetery is made up of three separate sections. The first part has a statue of a woman holding up a baby in honor of the memorial park's namesake. The second section has a tree of life monument that spins in the wind. This section contains a wall that has the family names of some of the people buried here. The third section is a Veterans Memorial in honor of the veterans buried here and the ones from Deerfield Beach who sacrificed their lives. The new cemetery opened on August 24, 2019. I commend the city of Deerfield Beach for making amends for the terrible wrong that had been done to the people of color in their city. They made it so nice that it looks more like a park than a cemetery. If you didn't bother to read the signs you might not know what it was. I saw kids riding their bikes along the pathways while moms sat with their backs against the name memorial. This park is only three of the 20 acres they found bodies on so not every grave is part of the memorial. There is a sign on the empty lot next to the memorial that condos from the 450 thousand dollar range will be built there. No doubt on other unmarked graves. Still the new memorial was a step in the right direction. There is even a historic marker out front. Since Florida was a slave state every town has one of these African-America Jim Crow era cemeteries. I am always interested in what the town does with it. Ft. Lauderdale made a nice memorial for theirs similar to this while Pompano Beach leaves theirs to decay. I applaud Deerfield Beach for taking an ugly piece of their history and turning into something beautiful the community can be proud of.

I haven't stopped off at the national cemetery in a while. It is beautifully decorated for the…read moreholidays. There's something about seeing thousands of wreaths adhered to the graves. It's nice to know that our veterans haven't been forgotten this time of year.

Florida's newest Veterans' Cemetery is located in Lake Worth in Palm Beach County and like all…read moreVeterans' Cemeteries, is beautifully maintained, surrounded by acres of forest, and has small lakes. I didn't see any critters today, but deer like to come at night and eat the roses. All the staff are veterans or volunteers and families are well provided for.

I wanted to visit this cemetery as a continue my historical tour of West Palm Beach. Woodlawn is…read morethe final resting place of some of the pioneers of Palm Beach as well as a mass burial site for the 96 victims of the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane. Over 10,000 people are buried here. The cemetery located on Dixie Hwy across from the Norton Museum is actually made up of three cemeteries, Woodlawn Cemetery, the Jewish Cemetery, and Woodlawn Cemetery North. It is thought the name for the cemetery was taken from the famous Woodlawn Cemetery in New York. Speaking of the Norton it used to be a 200 grave cemetery. It's bodies were supposed to be moved across the street to Woodlawn but not everyone made the trip before the museum was built. In 1904 Henry Flagler purchased 17 acres of a pineapple grove for the cemetery. He spent a lot of money on it and the cemetery was very beautiful with trees and landscaping and it actually became a tourist attraction for the society ladies of the day. Henry Flagler actually intended to be buried here in the center circle but changed his mind when two associates attempted to incorporate Palm Beach behind his back so he is instead buried in St. Augustine. There was also a place for his wife Mary Lily as long as she didn't remarry but she did so she isn't here either. In 1914 the cemetery was deeded to the city. In 1923 the Jewish Cemetery was all places were sold by 1953. Two more acres were purchased by the city in 1975 for the creation of the Woodlawn North Cemetery. This is the area where you will find the more recent burials. The cemetery used to have a confederate monument but it was vandalized after Dylann Roof committed the Charleston church shooting. It was permanently removed in 2017. The entrance to the cemetery used to have an iron gate with the inscription "That which is so universal as death must be a blessing." When Dixie Hwy was widened the gate was lost and it was replaced with a cement arch that bears the quote although no one has been able to determine where it came from. Some of the notable burial at this cemetery include Charlie W. Pierce who was a barefoot mailman and Joe Sakai who was one of the Japanese pineapple farmers in the colony that became Boca Raton. The cemetery is open to visitors from 7 am to 3 pm. It is very easy to drive around. I was primarily interested in the older graves from the 1800's. There are a lot of mausoleums and statues. In one part of the cemetery a tree has grown through the graves. In Woodland north I saw a statue on a grave that was wearing the glasses of the person who now lay in the grave below. It was so touching to see all of the loving tributes on that grave. The older graves are more neglected but still well tended compared to some of the other cemeteries I have visited. The mausoleums are not vandalized like the ones in Miami City Cemetery. Some of them have beautiful stained glass and benches. Surrounded by the tall buildings of downtown West Palm Beach this cemetery is a peaceful final resting places for the people who pioneered the area.