This cemetery is situated off of a busy road in Ormond Beach, and only has a small blue sign to even mark it’s presence. We could have easily passed it. Not only because there isn’t much in the way of signage, but the cemetery almost looks like a large green field with only the occasional small marker and a couple of beautiful old oak trees. Volunteers have transformed this cemetery from a forgotten burial ground into a setting that looks almost like a park. It’s a magical space, and is also known as Greenwood Cemetery. I prefer Gethsemane.

It’s a well spaced cemetery so be prepared to walk all over if you want to be sure not to miss any of the artistic markers.

Most of the markers here are handmade and truly glorious, some clearly done by the same hand, which always fascinates me. Maybe there was one person in the community that knew how to make them, or could read and write, or were they just good at it and so people called on them when they needed markers. These questions always surface for me when I go to places like this.

One of my favorite aspects of this cemetery is the small, five pointed star stamp used on many of the headstones, on both sides of the cemetery. I know it must have signified something, but I have been unable to find out what. According to graveaddiction.com it symbolizes the star of heaven, but I get the feeling that it’s something else for this place. The stars are simple and beautiful.

This cemetery was once a burying ground for African Americans, including slaves, and continued to be a primarily African American cemetery until it’s demise due to lack of funding and perpetual care (a repeating theme for this blog). In the Daytona beach Morning Journal from December 4, 1955 it has a funeral announcement for John Lee, who is buried in that cemetery, saying that the Herbert Thompson Funeral Home was performing the burial. They’ve been in business in Daytona Beach for quite awhile.

It was closed for burials in 1974. There is not a lot to say about this cemetery- as a place of historical value there doesn’t seem to be volumes and volumes of history on the place. However, it’s worth a visit to see what a group of individuals can do when they care about a cemetery.

Speaking of caring- next week I’ll be writing about Bay Ridge Cemetery near Apopka, which is completely overgrown and absolutely amazing! I care very much about what happens to that place.

A few of you know this is my main cemetery rant.

In the last 6 months I’ve been to 2 cemeteries with vandalized mausoleums, and it really disturbs me every time I see it. The first one was at Evergreen in Richmond, at the famous Braxton mausoleum which has been torn to shreds by vandals, mostly kids for school pranks. At a place like Evergreen you almost expect to see things like that, it’s an intensely private cemetery and completely overgrown. However, I was surprised recently when I went to Hillside Cemetery in Ormond Beach and found a mausoleum with the doors torn off.

It may not have been this crypt’s first time to see a crowbar. The door was made of wood, which I’ve never seen before. Usually the doors are metal and quite ornate and heavy, so my assumption (could always be incorrect) was that the original doors had been removed for some reason. I did see a photo from 2005 that shows the wooden door- so maybe it was original. Either way it was on the ground.

It was the middle of a beautiful Sunday morning, hot, humid, and with white sunshine beating down on us. The cemetery was mowed and in perfect condition. The irrigation was running and sulfurous water caused the air to smell metallic as we walked around. There was another visitor at the back of the property. It’s not like this place was unkempt and begging for trouble.

The mausoleum in question caught my eye because it was made of a unique stone and it was beautiful, until I saw the door on the ground and evidence of someone having been inside. There was only one burial  in the mausoleum and it was from 1984.

I think the way a lot of cemeteries and families solve these problems is to just stop replacing the doors and wall up the opening with brick. I hate seeing that, but I understand the need for it. Last Spring the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia made the news when 2 doors were stolen from a mausoleum that were estimated to be worth 25,000 dollars. The doors had been there over 100 years. It seems like an impossible feat for any thief to carry doors like that out of a cemetery when they weighed 800 pounds each, but they did.

Many times when I see news stories about vandalism in cemeteries my first thought is grave robbing, which is still happening even though it seems like something lost to time- like body snatching for medical schools in the 19th century. Apparently, New Orleans still has issues with this, and recently I’ve read several news articles about Civil War graves being disturbed for uniforms, medals, and buttons. A Google search on either topic will produce dozens of articles. However, some people go to remove doors, not to get at the graves inside (like they did in the Braxton Mausoleum), but just to take the doors because of their own value, which would apparently rival anything found in the grave.

This article says something different though- that doors stolen from a mausoleum in 2012 were actually only worth 75 dollars as scrap metal.

Regardless of the reason for the theft, it’s something I hate seeing when I go to visit cemeteries. The doors usually make the mausoleum, and I love the idea of a family member being able to enter, leave flowers, sweep, or just provide maintenance. I went recently to Palm Cemetery in Winter Park and saw a beautiful mausoleum at the back of the property that had doors with a lot of glass. When I looked inside there was a small table and a chair, and on the table were dried flowers, cards, letters, and a candle. Someone had been visiting.

It was beautiful and poignant.