They should make a stroll through this cemetery a requirement to live in Tampa. The men and women…read morethat built Tampa and made it what it is today are buried in this city block of history. Residents include the original Native Americans of Tampa, Cuban Pirates, Slaves, confederate soldiers and of course the pioneer families that built this city including the first mayor, the first lawyer, the Ybor family, the Kennedy family and many other well known names. A famous grave included in this cemetery is a very inspiring story. At the time of burial it was a very controversial story. A grave site that has made national attention! Here lies William Ashley and Nancy Ashley. A city leader and slave owner buried with the servant he fell in love with and shared a home with. In the end he insisted they were buried together where they could finally be together free from judgement. In 1873 this was unheard of. The inscription is "Here lies Wm. Ashley and Nancy Ashley, Master, and Servant,Faithful to each other in that relation in life, in death they are not separated. Stranger consider and be wiser, In the Grave all human distinction,of race or caste, mingle together In one common dust.To commemorate their fidelity to each other this stone was erected by their Executor. John Jackson, 1873." Visit this cemetery get to know the people who built this great city!

This is a cool historic cemetery near downtown, the AME church and the bus station.. First mayor,…read moreMcKays.. Other historic figs. Take a step back in time..

This is a very small little cemetery with some markers for late 19th century and early 20th century…read morepeeps in this part of East Tampa including Robles and Bourouardez family members. Several died young. In 2019 USF is doing some kind of ground survey study of the area. On Sundays there's a lady selling strawberry, blueberry, and sour apple candied apples and a soul food setup with cajun boiled peanuts, crab shilah (chillau), ox tails, sides and desserts next to the cemetery. Nearby, the drive along the Hillsborough River (River Grove Dr.) in this area is winding and interesting. This cemetery is a fun little spot for the urban explorer. A historical marker would be a welcome addition and some explanation of early European-American settlement and activity.

Socrum Cemetery is quite possibly the oldest cemetery in Polk County, vying with Fort Meade down…read moresouth. It is on the property of Bethel Baptist Church and is run and maintained by them. They do a lovely job; it's very clean and manicured with nighttime lights and cameras to deter vandals. The cemetery is in two sections, divided by Socrum Loop Road. The portion across the street from the church has a drive-thru with gates that are open in the daytime. The portion that is on the church side is open during the same hours, but you must park in the church lot and walk over. The oldest graves, containing the settlers of Socrum, are located nearest the brick building in the front - the 2nd church built in 1856. (The original wooden church no longer exists and they now use a more modern church located in the rear.)

Woodlawn Cemetery is a historic cemetery located in Tampa, Florida. It is large and I was looking…read moreat some of the graves and many of the graves were of people born in the 1800's. I enjoy walking old graveyards. We seemed to have more reverence for our loved ones and many of the graves were adorned with the photos of people who left this earth a hundred years ago. One cool set of headstones, well, statues actually, were of a doctor and his wife. Again, I find that people had more reverence for the graves of their loved ones. I am happy that I found this historic graveyard. For me, there is something to be said about walking through the final resting spot where people rest after spending a complete life, filled with joy and laughter, as well as sadness and tears. I will give here five stars.

This is a historic cemetery in Tampa Heights where dead people live. It is definitely haunted…read more There is a Jewish section. There is also a Centro Asturiano section for the people from that part of Spain and their descendants who settled in Tampa. The entrance is on Indiana. The cemetery is in an older residential area. Gram's Hostel is a pretty cool place and live music venue adjacent..

I believe this is the new Centuro Asturiano Cemetery. The mostly granite markers have mostly…read moreSpanish surnames. There is a Jewish section behind the large mausoleum in the back with just a few headstones spaced widely apart. There is a Fernandez family mausoleum and a large mausoleum towards the back.I found a magnolia or maybe it was camelia tree with intoxicatingly beautiful smelling blooms.

What things aren't permitted y to be left at a loved ones grave? It seems as tho everything I leave…read morethere is gone when I return

The oldest cemetery in Bartow is Pioneer Oak Hill. It was not on city property and could not be…read moreenlarged because it was too close to downtown so in 1890 the citizens of Bartow made a deal to pay Thomas Pasco Carpenter $1.500.00 to purchase ten acres of land in order to create a city cemetery. It is believed that part of the land was already being used as an unofficial cemetery. The oldest burial may be that of John W. Towles who died in 1875. Pioneer Oak Hill only has Confederate Civil War dead but Wildwood contains people from both sides of the conflict. In the 1900's the cemetery was expanded to 40 acres. Burial of Black citizens in Wildwood began in 1975 and in 1984 the city redesigned and refurbished the cemetery grounds. This cemetery is most infamous for being the final resting place of Charlie Smith, "America's Oldest Man". According to his gravestone he was 137 years old when he died! Charlie recounted his life story during a 1978 episode of the television series Visions, titled "Charlie Smith and the Fritter Tree," According to Charlie he was born in Liberia in 1842, and at the age of 12 he was kidnapped by someone who convinced him that in America fritters grow on trees. After arriving in the United States he was sold into slavery to a Texas farmer who purchased him and named him Charlie Smith. The farmer treated him like a son and upon his death Charlie took his surname. Further adventures ensued when he joined the Union army, moved out West where he worked as a ranch hand, became a professional gambler, ran with the James Gang when they were chasing Billy the Kid, raised a family and ended up as a circus sideshow attraction. The records that have been discovered pertaining to Charlie Smith make it more likely that he was 105 when he died but don't let the truth get in the way of a good story. You can pay Charlie a visit in row 28 near the wall.

This is a very historic sanitary in West Tampa and should be further investigated for loss burial…read moreand unmarked graves this property has been known to have these graves in it and she's had more respect for the people in it. I live in West Tampa my whole life and realize it's something should be done through the either the clerk's office or Hillsborough county property appraiser's office to help with this patch of land and how it is to be used and wants to be done with the bodies that are there.

Marti-Colon Cemetery is a historic cemetery in West Tampa, maintained and partially owed by the…read moreCity of Tampa.[1] It currently lies south of Columbus Drive, though for the first sixty years of the cemetery's life, it extended north of Columbus. Marti-Colon has come into the news several times since its inception in the late 19th century, with reports of unscrupulous practices by owners and a lack of oversight by the government officials. HistoryEdit In 1895, the City of West Tampa purchased land to be used as a city-run cemetery to serve the community.[2] It was the final resting place of prominent West Tampans such as the second mayor of West Tampa, Francisco Milian.[3] At some point, the cemetery moved into private hands, being owned and operated by J. L. Reed until 1936, when it was sold to the City of Tampa, so that the city could in turn sell right-of-way permissions through the cemetery for the expansion of Columbus Drive. The right-of-way separated the cemetery into northern and southern halves, apparently leaving several hundred bodies in the northern section. In 1959, the cemetery (now becoming known as Colon) became the center of a scandal, when city workers dumped raw sewage onto the overgrown and abandoned northern section. The operator of the cemetery at that time, A. P. Boza, leased the property from the city, and had failed proper upkeep of the separated northern section.[4] Because of the attention the sewage dump garnered, the city decided to turn the northern section (now known as the "old" Jose Marti cemetery) into a park, apparently removing the graves from that section.[5][6][7] In 1990, the cemetery again came into the news, when 10 adjacent lots which were sold to A. P. Boza at the time of his lease in 1939 were set to be auctioned off by the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's Office for failure to pay taxes. The Property Appraiser's Office had been issuing notices to Boza since 1980, unaware that he had died in 1978. Upon realizing the land was in fact a cemetery, the Office cancelled the auction and sought tax exemption for the lots.[8] West Tampa residents contacted the Office with concerns that graves would be exhumed if the tax issue was not cleared up.[9] By 1993, the cemetery had fallen into disrepair with no one willing to maintain the Boza and City owned portions. A small sliver of the cemetery land had belonged to Garden of Memories Funeral Home, which had been maintaining the entire cemetery, but stopped due to the expense. Because Boza had not left a will when he died, his son refused to claim the cemetery property, stating that "[That land] is nothing but a liability."[10] Because of the outrage generated by the state of the cemetery, the City of Tampa agreed to allocate funds for its upkeep.[11] By the end of 1993, more funds were being sought by families to pay for a security fence to help ward off vandals, after one resident reported a smashed marble angel statue on her uncle's crypt.[12] In 1995, scandal rocked the cemetery again with an investigation by WFLA into the issue of missing graves and potential buryovers. The city conducted its own investigation, and in 2000 confirmed that buryovers had taken place, and many records of graves held by the City Clerk's Office were useless in identifying missing burials. Graves that had been moved to make way for the construction of Columbus Drive had been topped by graves during the 1960s and 1970s.[13] Research done by radio station WFLA using materials from A. P. Boza funeral home, City records, and records from the LDS Church, concluded that 290 graves report having more than one person buried in that particular location.

The services we received from Cremations of Tampa were excellent. Alan was very responsive and…read morekind. I highly recommend them.