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.
Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. . 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 United Methodist Church, located in Gainesville's Pleasant Street Historic District.
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 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
Location. 29° 40.76′ N, 82° 20.337′ W. Marker is in Gainesville, Florida, in Alachua County. Marker 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.
3. Mt. Pleasant Cemetery Marker along NW 13th Street, US 441, northbound
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
Photographed By Mike Stroud, April 4, 2012
6. Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
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 1,143 times since then and 51 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.
