St. Michael's Cemetery is a cemetery in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

. The land around the current location of the cemetery has been used as a burial ground beginning in the mid to late 18th century, with the earliest above-ground markers associated with Pensacola's Second Spanish Period. In 1949 the cemetery was dedicated as a state park.

History

The oldest recorded burial ground in Pensacola comes from a 1778 map, showing the ground to be Northeast of St. Michael's in the vicinity of Tarragona and Chase Streets. After officially being designated a cemetery by King Charles IV of Spain in 1807, it was moved to the south and east, and was formally platted out by Vincente Pintado in 1810. The oldest extant marker of the site dates to 1812. An 1827 map shows the grounds stretching from Romana Street bordering its north side and Gregory Street at its south, though an 1885 sketch shows the grounds very reminiscent of its current size. Although originally designated for Catholic inhabitants, the cemetery has traditionally served as a burial ground for people of all faiths. As Pensacola has drawn immigrants from around the world, it is the resting place of Captains of Industry, victims of Yellow Fever epidemics and steam ship explosions, along with those who died in child birth, as infants, and of old age. In 1949 the cemetery was officially dedicated as a state park. Today the cemetery has about 3,200 marked graves, excluding many unmarked graves, and is primarily maintained by St. Michael's Cemetery Foundation of Pensacola, Inc., a non-profit organization working with the University of West Florida. The cemetery is currently , and is located at 6 N. Alcaniz St.

Notable burials

* Ebenezer Dorr, U.S. Marshall for the western District of the Territory of Florida, first

Sheriff of Escambia County The Escambia County Sheriff's Office (ECSO) or Escambia Sheriff's Office (ESO) is the primary law enforcement agency of unincorporated Escambia County and the town of Century. ECSO is headed by a sheriff, who serves a four-year term and is elect ...

* Manuel Gonzalez, Justice of the Peace and Quartermaster General for the Florida Militia * Stephen R. Mallory, Confederate States Secretary of the Navy * José Noriega, first

Alcade of Pensacola The mayor of the City of Pensacola is the chief executive officer and holder of the city of Pensacola, Florida. The mayor's office is located at the city hall at 222 West Main Street in Downtown, and owns an estate near the Texar Bayou in East Pen ...

Salvador T. Pons Salvador T. Pons (December 23, 1835 - March 21, 1890) was a bricklayer and politician in Pensacola, Florida. He served in the Florida House of Representatives for Escambia County from 1868-1870 and in 1875. He served as Pensacola's mayor in 1874 a ...

, first black mayor of Pensacola * Daniel and Martin Sullivan, successful lumber businessman * Dorothy Walton, wife of

George Walton George Walton (c. 1749 – February 2, 1804), a Founding Father of the United States, signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia and also served as the second chief executive of Georgia. Early life Wal ...

* P. K. Yonge, businessman and civic leader{{Cite web , title=Historical Marker Database Map , url=https://www.hmdb.org/map.asp?markers=80047,80048,80051,80049,80050,80044,80078,80043,80038 , access-date=2022-11-21 , website=www.hmdb.org

References

Historic American Landscapes Survey in Florida Buildings and structures in Pensacola, Florida Cemeteries in Florida National parks in Florida Cemeteries established in the 1800s 1807 establishments in the Spanish Empire