Historic Old Mayport Cemetery - Mayport, FL - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

The sign states:

"Historic Old Mayport Cemetery
This is the site of the Historic Old Mayport Cemetery, on Navy, City of Jacksonville and nearby private properties, covered beneath considerable fill material, roadways and private development. The names of some who are interred here are known; the number of graves, the earliest burial dates, and the precise boundaries are unknown. Its size is estimated to be within 49,000 square meters or approximately 12 acres. This site is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Legacies reference this Cemetery as being the Spanish Cemetery; with possible interments relating to the historic territorial conflicts and occupations in this area during the 16th and 17th centuries.

The following is a partial quote from Helen Cooper Floyd's 1994, 'Folk History of Mayport, Florida, In the Shadow of the Lighthouse', Appendices: 'Cemeteries'; "Near the St. Johns Lighthouse, within the boundaries of the U.S. Naval Station and covered by the pavement of Broad Street, the oldest cemetery in Mayport memory is sealed away.

Beneath spreading oaks, partially covered by shifting sands of a long gone hill, there once were rusting wrought iron fences. Tilted headstones covered by blackberry brambles were overshadowed by an oleander tree that was taller than many houses in the village. Here robins flocked in February and violets bloomed in early spring. No one tended the graves and few questioned their origins. This was a place of mystery to the children who sometimes chose it for a playground ...

... Oak Tree, oleander and tombstones are gone. In the pavement where Broad Street makes a wide semi-circle near the Navy fence are strange indentations. Perhaps they mark the graves of some long gone and long forgotten citizens of Mayport Mills. Or Hazzard. Or, conceivaably the Spanish Occupation."

Group that erected the marker: The Mayport Waterfront Partnership URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link] Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: Broad Street and Ribault Park Street Mayport, FL USA 32233

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