Oaklawn Cemetery, established in the mid-1800s, is owned by the city and is Tampa's oldest burial ground. It adjoins St. Louis Cemetery, which is owned by the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg, and both are surrounded by a stone wall bounded by Harrison, Jefferson, Morgan and Laurel Streets in Tampa's downtown. A fence that once separated the two disappeared long ago. A number of prominent persons from the city's history are buried here including Tampa's first mayor, Joseph B. Lancaster, and 12 other Tampa mayors, a governor of Florida, two Florida Supreme Count Justices, Confederate soldiers, and members of some of Tampa's more illustrious, pioneer families. Vicente Martinez Ybor, the man for whom Ybor City is named, and who brought the cigar industry here from Key West and made Tampa the Cigar Capital of the World, is also buried here. (I posted another monochrome image of the cemetery on August 23. Click HERE to take a look.)
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Oaklawn Cemetery: Tampa's First Public Burial Ground
Oaklawn Cemetery, established in the mid-1800s, is owned by the city and is Tampa's oldest burial ground. It adjoins St. Louis Cemetery, which is owned by the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg, and both are surrounded by a stone wall bounded by Harrison, Jefferson, Morgan and Laurel Streets in Tampa's downtown. A fence that once separated the two disappeared long ago. A number of prominent persons from the city's history are buried here including Tampa's first mayor, Joseph B. Lancaster, and 12 other Tampa mayors, a governor of Florida, two Florida Supreme Count Justices, Confederate soldiers, and members of some of Tampa's more illustrious, pioneer families. Vicente Martinez Ybor, the man for whom Ybor City is named, and who brought the cigar industry here from Key West and made Tampa the Cigar Capital of the World, is also buried here. (I posted another monochrome image of the cemetery on August 23. Click HERE to take a look.)
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6 comments:
Great photo, Frank. I do like wandering around old cemeteries and reading the inscriptions on the head stoned.
Thanks for stopping by...
This shot needed b&w! Very effective. I wonder how many Oak Lawn cemeteries there are around the world ... seems to be a very popular name.
Old cemetaries are always a draw for me. There is actually one on the edge of Signal Hill/or edge of Long Beach that I drive by but have yet to stop at. The best one I've visited was the Rose Cemetary in Macon, Georgia (confed. soldiers, many early 1800s graves, freight trains and river on one side).
Frank, thank you for sharing your memories of this area - I really appreciate hearing the stories even though I don't get around to letting you know. Tash
Isn't it interesting how cemeteries draw us in. The mystery, the atmosphere. Very nice shot Frank, both of them.
Another wonderful cemetery shot Frank! I like wandering through old cemeteries too. One of the oldest cemeteries in Tallahassee is just a block away from my office and sometimes I go down there at lunch and just sit for awhile.
Well maybe I'm crazy to you or something but I like those places, not because they are graveyards, it's just they are peaceful and I feel something nice being there, I usually read in this places, this always happens when I'm out the job in Viagra Online labs, there's one very closer and I went there everyday.
63KM
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