Evergreen Cemetery

Evergreen Cemetery. . , For over 85 years, Evergreen Cemetery has been the final resting place of some of the City’s most influential black citizens, as well as a cross-section of many unnoted black citizens who contributed to the development of West Palm Beach. In 1913, a group of seven, identified as trustees and owners, had the Evergreen Cemetery laid out. The site had originally been part of Gale’s Lake Worth Plat No. 1. These original trustees and owners, joined by four others formed the Evergreen Cemetery Association in 1916, with M.J. Gildersleeve serving as president. Prior to the creation of this cemetery blacks had been buried in what was identified only as the “colored cemetery” on South Dixie Highway. Blacks were denied burial in Woodlawn Cemetery, the City's municipal cemetery until 1966. Among those buried in Evergreen Cemetery are Dr. T. Leroy Jefferson, the City’s first black physician; J.W. Mickens, an early educator; Henry Speed, a real estate investor; and Dr. J.R. Vickers (1879-1965), a physician. In 1981, the City Commission declared Evergreen Cemetery a site of local historical significance. The City of West Palm Beach acquired and assumed responsibility for Evergreen Cemetery in 1987.