Gainesville in Alachua County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)
Evergreen Cemetery
Photographed by Tim Fillmon, April 9, 2016
1. Evergreen Cemetery Marker
Inscription.
Evergreen Cemetery, known locally as "This Wondrous Place," began with the burial of a baby girl in 1856. The infant, Elizabeth Thomas, was the daughter of wealthy cotton merchant James T. Thomas and his wife, Elizabeth Jane Hall Thomas. The baby was laid to rest by a young cedar tree on family land. Eight months later, her mother was buried alongside her. Their double grave is marked with a simple headstone carved by a noted stonemason from Charleston, W.A. White. In 1866, Thomas sold his 720-acre parcel, reserving roughly one acre around the burial for a graveyard. The Evergreen Cemetery Association operated the cemetery, beginning in 1890, until it was purchased by the City of Gainesville in 1944. The cemetery now includes 53 acres, and is the final resting place of more than 10,000 people. Some the persons interred here are Gainesville founder James B. Bailey, anthropologist William R. Maples, ecologists Archie and Marjorie Carr, Florida's first female physician Sarah L. Robb, Major General Albert H. Blanding, U.S. Commissioner of Education John J. Tigert, and Gatorade inventor Robert Cade. Veterans of nearly every
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American conflict since the 1830s are also buried here.
A Florida Heritage Site
Erected 2014 by Evergreen Cemetery Association of Gainesville, Inc. and the Florida Department of State. (Marker Number F-805.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Cemeteries & Burial Sites. A significant historical year for this entry is 1856.
Location. 29° 37.921′ N, 82° 18.873′ W. Marker is in Gainesville, Florida, in Alachua County. It can be reached from the intersection of Southeast 21st Avenue and Southeast 4th Street, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 401 SE 21st Ave, Gainesville FL 32641, 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.
Other nearby markers. At
Photographed by Tim Fillmon, April 9, 2016
2. Evergreen Cemetery Marker at entrance to cemetery
Credits. This page was last revised on October 9, 2020. It was originally submitted on April 12, 2016, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. This page has been viewed 1,082 times since then and 71 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on April 12, 2016, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
