ORLANDO -- Orlando-owned Greenwood Cemetery is offering plots for each of the 49 mass shooting victims as a way of helping families deal with the emotional and financial burden of burying their loved ones. The historic cemetery, dating to the 1880s, is Orlando's oldest cemetery and a revered resting place with 82 acres of rolling hills, moss-covered trees and wetlands.
The plots will be offered to the 49 victims' families, free of charge. The city will also cover some burial costs, according to city officials. A section of the cemetery along Anderson Street has been selected as the location of the plots.
It's our duty. We have been honoring and providing a beautiful, respectful burying place for Orlando since 1880.
— Greenwood Cemetery (@orlandocemetery)
Orlando is awesome. This week...I've never worked so hard and cried so much with all the families of the victims.
— Greenwood Cemetery (@orlandocemetery)
Greenwood Cemetery has a unique history. Up until the 1880s, the people of Orlando had no permanent burial location, leading to many lost graves and confusion. After a newspaper campaign by publisher Mahlon Gore, eight Orlando residents pulled together to buy 26 acres of land from John W. Anderson. Today, Greenwood Cemetery is owned and operated by the City of Orlando.
Greenwood Cemetery Residents
Some of Greenwood’s well-known residents include:
- T.G. Lee
- Mayor Bob Carr
- Mayor Mahlon Gore
- Cassius Boone
- Mayor Capt. James Parramore
- Mayor William Beardall
- David Lockhart
- Samuel Robinson
- Mayor Braxton Beacham
- Elijah Hand
- Carey Hand
- Joe Tinker
- Joseph Bumby