Gainesville in Alachua County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Mt. Pleasant Cemetery

Photographed by Mike Stroud, April 4, 2012

1. Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Marker

Inscription. The Mt. Pleasant Cemetery was established c. 1883 by the Mt. Pleasant Methodist Episcopal Church as a final resting place for its members and other African Americans in the city of Gainesville. Founded in 1867, the church purchased the 5.38-acre property for $125 in 1886. Among the earliest graves are those of Helen H. Wall (1847-1883) and Jefferson Garrison (1871-1884). Some headstones are of marble or granite carved with symbolic designs, others are simple vaults of stuccoed brick or concrete. Early African American community members and their descendents are buried in individual and family plots here. Among them are civic and religious leaders, educators, physicians, dentists, craftsmen, servicemen, and business owners, some of whom began life as enslaved people. Buried here are the Reverend Alexander DeBose, pastor of the Mt. Pleasant church in the 1870s; Dr. R. B. Ayer and Dr. Julius Parker, the city's first black physicians; Dr. E. H. DeBose, Sr., Gainesville's first black dentist; and Lance Corporal Vernon T. Carter, Jr., Gainesville's first Viet Nam War casualty. The cemetery is still maintained by the Mt. Pleasant

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United Methodist Church, located in Gainesville's Pleasant Street Historic District.

Erected 2006 by A Florida Heritage Site Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church and the Florida Department of State. (Marker Number F-577.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Cemeteries & Burial Sites. A significant historical year for this entry is 1883.

Location. 29° 40.76′ N, 82° 20.337′ W. Marker is in Gainesville, Florida, in Alachua County. It is at the intersection of NW 13th Street (U.S. 441) and NW 29th Avenue, on the right when traveling north on NW 13th Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Gainesville FL 32609, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Florida.

It is also in the American South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Mt. Pleasant Cemetery and Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mike Stroud, April 4, 2012

2. Mt. Pleasant Cemetery and Marker

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: The Bailey House (approx. 1.3 miles away); The Home of A. Quinn Jones, Sr., Educator (approx. 1½ miles away); Tom Petty, Rock Musician (approx. 1.6 miles away); Chestnut Funeral Home (approx. 1.6 miles away); Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church (approx. 1.7 miles away); Mt. Carmel Baptist Church (approx. 1.8 miles away); St. Augustine, the Episcopal Mission Church and School (approx. 1.8 miles away); Gainesville's Railroads / Past Railroads of Gainesville (approx. 1.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Gainesville.

Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Marker along NW 13th Street, US 441, northbound image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mike Stroud, April 4, 2012

3. Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Marker along NW 13th Street, US 441, northbound

Southbound view, Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mike Stroud, April 4, 2012

4. Southbound view, Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Marker

Photographed by Mike Stroud, April 4, 2012

5. Mt. Pleasant Cemetery and Marker

Mt. Pleasant Cemetery image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mike Stroud, April 4, 2012

6. Mt. Pleasant Cemetery

Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church, Marker Sponsor image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mike Stroud, April 4, 2012

7. Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church, Marker Sponsor

Credits. This page was last revised on February 14, 2021. It was originally submitted on June 2, 2012, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 2,497 times since then and 139 times this year. Last updated on February 14, 2021, by Jason R. Surratt of Aurora, Colorado. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on June 2, 2012, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.