Greenwood Cemetery Historical Walking Tour

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Established in the 1880s, Greenwood Cemetery is the final resting place of over 40,000 Central Florida residents. For its first four decades, the cemetery was known as Orlando Cemetery, with the name change reflecting both the vast green landscape and the name of the prominent street at the cemetery's entrance. The cemetery includes the graves of many prominent citizens whose stories have shaped the history of Orlando.

2. Cemetery Segregation: Jim Crow and the Racial Division of Eternal Rest

Greenwood Cemetery has three segregated sections: K, T, and 3. Sections K and T are the oldest in what was originally the back of the cemetery. Burials of African American residents were restricted to these sections until 1967 when the City of Orlando overturned the ordinance that mandated segregation in the cemetery.

3. A Symbol of Freedom: Gus Henderson

Gustavus (Gus) Christopher Henderson was a respected African American resident of Central Florida who published The Winter Park Advocate and later the Florida Christian Recorder. He was instrumental in incorporating Hannibal Square, an African American subdivision of residential homes and businesses, into the City of Winter Park. Henderson worked tirelessly to improve Black voter registration in Central Florida. His efforts reverberate into the present day across many fronts.

4. Ocoee and the July Perry Story

As racial tensions rose across the United States before the 1920 presidential election, White supremacists attempted to stop African Americans from voting in Ocoee, Florida. An African American resident, July Perry, fought against such disenfranchisement through a voter registration drive. On November 2nd, a mob destroyed the homes and businesses of African Americans in Ocoee, killing roughly thirty-five African Americans. A mob lynched Perry for attempting to help his fellow African Americans vote. In the years that followed, African American were systematically driven off their land and out of town. Ocoee became known as a “Sundown Town,” barring non-Whites from entry after dark.

5. Jonestown: Orlando’s First African American Neighborhood

Jonestown was Orlando’s first African American community. Beginning in the 1880s, formerly enslaved African Americans made the banks of Fern Creek their home. Jonestown’s boundaries were from East Jackson Street to the north, Palmer Street to the south, Williams Street to the east, and Mills Street to the west. The northern thirty-acre segment of Greenwood Cemetery occupies Jonestown land owned by the White Magruder family until 1935.

6. William R. Boone

William R. Boone was a Veteran of two world wars and a lifelong educator, who served as Orlando High School’s last principal. William R. Boone High School was named in his honor.

7. Gone But Not Forgotten: Orlando’s “Paupers”

Communities have long struggled with how to care for the less fortunate. Orlando is no exception. Since Greenwood Cemetery’s inception, the City of Orlando has provided burials for those without the means in Section Q. Sometimes called a “pauper” burial ground, “potter’s field,” or even a “strangers’ row,” this section contains the unmarked graves of those who lived and died in Orlando but whose individual stories are lost to us.

8. Sunland Hospital: A Community with Disabilities Hidden in Plain Sight

Sunland Hospital Training Center served as a residential facility for individuals with disabilities in Central Florida for over two decades, beginning in 1960. Many of Sunland’s patients were considered to have severe mental and physical disabilities and were wards of the State of Florida. Sunland Orlando was closed in 1985 after a lawsuit alleged abuse and neglect at the facility. Section Q in Greenwood Cemetery is the final resting place for 106 Sunland Hospital patients.

9. A Swan Song: Charles Lord and Orlando’s Swans

In 1910, Englishman Charles Lord brought four swans to Lake Lucerne, including one infamous swan named Billy. After Billy caused a scuffle, a pair of the swans were moved to Lake Eola where they became beloved members of the local community. The past and present are still united today; visitors can find five species of swans at Lake Eola.

10. The Great Orlando Fire and the Burning of the Orlando Cemetery

In the early days of the City of Orlando, two major fires defined the growth of the young city and its shift toward modernization. The first of these fires, in 1884, burned four buildings at a time when Orlando was only a square mile. Another fire in 1891 destroyed a great portion of Greenwood Cemetery, including nearly all the wooden headboards, prompting the cemetery’s purchase by the city as well as subsequent fire code changes.

11. The Eternal Revenge of Fred Weeks

One of the most popular stories in Greenwood Cemetery is that of a land deal gone wrong and the eternal revenge of Fred Weeks. Often repeated, the story has amused generations of Orlandoans and served as a warning to those tempted by deals that are too good to be true.

12. Confederate Soldiers Monument

The Confederate Soldiers Monument which now stands at Greenwood Cemetery in Section J was originally erected in front of the Orange County Courthouse in 1911 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It was moved in 1917 to Lake Eola and remained there for a century until it was moved to Greenwood Cemetery as a part of a national campaign to remove or relocate statues and monuments honoring the Confederacy from public parks.

13. Mayor William Henry Jewell: A Legendary Orlandoan

William Henry Jewell was a Northern-born Confederate soldier whose military service quite literally embodied the slogan “brother against brother.” Jewell served as Orlando’s nineteenth mayor, and his beautification efforts helped to create “The City Beautiful.”

14. City Growth and Change: Origins of Orlando’s Name, Streets, and Greenwood’s Many Entrances

Orlando’s origin story is not as straightforward as it may seem. Was the city named for the tragic hero of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, for a Seminole War veteran buried in a local graveyard, or for someone else altogether? Unfortunately, there is no consensus on how Orlando got its name. However, some mysteries are easier to solve than others. Clues to where Orlando’s street names originated can be found written in stone at Greenwood at the gravesites of city founders like Gore, Bumby, Anderson, Robinson, and Palmer. Likewise, the evolution of Greenwood Cemetery’s entrances can be pieced together to show how the cemetery mirrored Orlando’s growth and the changing needs of the community.

15. Orlando’s Grand Army of the Republic

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was founded on April 6, 1866, as a fraternal organization for Union Veterans of the Civil War. Orlando’s GAR, U. S. Grant Post No. 10, was formed in 1886. Nearly 100 gravesites are enclosed within the GAR section of Greenwood Cemetery, with markers honoring veterans and family members buried there.

16. Joseph Bumby: Orlando Pioneer

Pioneer resident Joseph Bumby traveled across an ocean before settling his family in Central Florida. He and his offspring left an indelible mark on the city, from the first public transportation to providing the literal building blocks of Orlando.

17. A Jeffersonian Legacy in Central Florida: Francis Wayles Eppes

Francis Wayles Eppes, the grandson of President Thomas Jefferson, was a Florida cotton planter, slaveholder, and civic leader who helped elevate Tallahassee during his tenure as mayor. After the Civil War, he moved to Orlando, established a citrus farm, and played a pivotal role in establishing the Cathedral Church of Saint Luke.

18. William Reynolds: Libby Prison Escapee

William Reynolds was an officer in the Union Army during the Civil War and a prisoner of war at the infamous Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. Reynolds and 108 other Union soldiers escaped in February of 1864. Reynolds later moved to Orlando, Florida, where he died in 1914 and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery.

19. The Sperry Fountain: The Fountain That Elected a Mayor

The funds to purchase the Sperry Fountain and the surrounding land were a donation to the City of Orlando by Ezra Frank Sperry in 1913 as part of a campaign to create a city park and beautify Lake Eola. Mr. Sperry was elected Mayor of Orlando the following year. The fountain, known by some as Lake Eola’s “other fountain,” was replaced by a replica in 2014 and the original moved to Greenwood Cemetery.

20. Fighting to Save Lives: Lt. Marion Clark Phillips of the Army Nurse Corps

Second Lieutenant Marion Clark Phillips of Orlando served with distinction in the Army Nurse Corps in World War II, before her untimely demise on February 2, 1945. As a track and field athlete, she broke three collegiate records.

21. Greenwood’s ‘Babylands’ and Children of the Past

Many cemeteries in the United States have sections called ‘Babyland’ explicitly designed for children ages 5 and younger. Greenwood Cemetery has three Babyland sections created for somber reflection by those who lost young ones far too soon.

22. Jessie Johnson Branch’s City Beautiful

Women in Orlando’s history have made an indelible mark on the city’s past, present, and future. One such woman was Jessie Branch, an early resident who created an enduring part of “The City Beautiful” when she coined the now-famous motto in 1908.

23. The Beauty of Orlando: Gertrude Sweet

Gertrude Sweet Newell, sister of Charles Sweet, the former mayor of Orlando and surveyor of Orlando’s street network, was an accomplished pianist who played in The Orlando Band with her husband, Henry Newell. Gertrude was known as the most beautiful woman in Orange County, with Gertrude Street even being street named for her. Today’s Gertrude’s Walk in downtown Orlando is reminiscent of the former glory of Gertrude Street and the fascinating woman it is named after.

24. A Man of Many Talents: Samuel Robinson

Samuel Austin Robinson was one of the early settlers of what would become the City of Orlando. Acting as the city’s Representative in the State Legislature for two terms, Alderman, City Surveyor, Orange County Tax Collector, and as Trustee of the Orlando Public Schools, Robinson was integral in improving the Orlando area. He also surveyed and designed Greenwood Cemetery, laying down the foundation for the serene cemetery we have today.

25. The Wilmott Mausoleum

The Wilmott mausoleum is the final resting place of Fred Wilmott Sr, his three children, Mildred, Ralph, and Fred Jr, and his second wife, Eleanor Hutchinson Wilmott. The strikingly beautiful mausoleum was built after the untimely death of Eleanor in 1926.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Greenwood Cemetery Historical Walking Tour

Created by City of Orlando Greenwood Cemetery on July 9th 2024, 3:21:07 pm.

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Established in the 1880s, Greenwood Cemetery offers scenic views and historical importance. This digital walking tour was created in cooperation with the City of Orlando and the University of Central Florida in fulfillment of a Florida Division of Historical Resources Grant to bolster Greenwood Cemetery's historical presence, increase public engagement, and showcase the history of Orlando held within the cemetery.

Entries on This Tour

Greenwood Cemetery Historical Walking Tour

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