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Crews Work To Uncover History Of Old Muscogee Cemetery
May 15, 2016
Using trimmers and saws and a lot of brute force yanking on vines, a team of Gulf Power volunteers from Plant Crist and Environmental Affairs carved a path into a patch of densely overgrown woods to uncover a section of the Old Muscogee Cemetery, forgotten by society and families alike.
At the same time, a smaller group fanned out to collect garbage — a whopping one ton of discarded fuel tanks, a broken toilet, paint cans, tires, clothes, a cooking pot, drink cans and pounds and pounds of beer bottles.
“My bachelor’s degree is in environmental, so I feel a strong sense of responsibility when it comes to participating in stewardship events,” she said. “But it’s really sad that people who come here have to look at so much trash when they visit their loved ones. Not only is it sacrilegious to pollute hallowed ground, but it’s also extremely thoughtless and cruel when the Perdido Landfill is literally five minutes away.”
The cleanup was a partnership between Gulf Power Environmental Stewardship and Northwest Florida Water Management District to help begin restoration of the late 1800s cemetery, located a stone’s throw from the Perdido River in west Cantonment.
Steve Brown, senior land manager for the Water Management District, said it would have taken him and his three-member team weeks to do what 18 Gulf Power volunteers did in half a day.
“This has been a project we’ve wanted to do for some time, but it’s very sensitive,” he said of the fragile condition of the historic gravesite. “We can’t go in with large equipment. The only way to do the brushing back and clearing out is to use hand labor. It’s tedious and labor-intensive. We are thrilled that Gulf Power employees came out to help with their expertise.”
Jeff Cole, who leads the Environmental Affairs Stewardship program, said the project was a great opportunity to help out the community.
“Cleaning up the cemetery is key for this area because a lot of historic sites in Northwest Florida are being lost to time and a lack of money and materials to get them restored,” he said. “When we can come out and help, it adds another shining star to the community and historic value of the region.”
By the end of the workday, the team revealed six headstones and numerous indentations that are believed to be unmarked or vandalized graves.
(story continues below photo)
Among the graves are three marked sites of the Owens family — Elise Owens, 1885-1961; Sam Owens – 1880-1957; and what may be a son or relative, Huston Owens, 1927-1962. Huston’s head stone indicated he served as a steward’s mate 2nd class in the United States Navy Reserve.
When volunteers carefully brushed away layers of decaying leaves from his cracked, concrete tomb, they discovered a weathered U.S. flag, dusted it off and gently draped it over his headstone.
As the cleared circumference expanded, a marble monument was released from saplings and vines. Deeper in the woods the small headstone of John Brown emerged from a thick blanket of decaying leaves with hard-to-read lettering that identifies him as a war veteran.
Monuments and marble headstones that still exist are testaments to the story of Muscogee, a once a thriving timber town-turned-ghost-town. Founded in 1857 it once boasted four mills, a school, post office, train depot and fire station before the lumber industry pulled up stakes and moved on.
Eventually, many of the estimated nearly 500 citizens moved on too, leaving behind their family plots.
About two decades ago, a citizens group began restoring the neglected white section of the cemetery but many of them passed on or become too old to do the work, according to local historian Helen Allen, who has championed the restoration of the cemetery.
At the time, with no apparent family members to tend to the black section, the woods reclaimed that land. And no one had any idea how many graves rested underneath the brush and vines.
Because of its location on the Perdido River, the Water Management District purchased the land encompassing the cemetery from International Paper Company in 2006 and took over maintenance.
Comments
35 Responses to “Crews Work To Uncover History Of Old Muscogee Cemetery”
We appreciate all the work that Gulf Power and all the folks that have helped to clean the cemetery that was long forgotten. My 2nd Great Grandpa and his brother are buried in the cemetery in unmarked graves. Wish we had some way of finding out at least a general area they would be in.
Some years ago I and my husband Tony were blessed to be able to take part in a cleaning and mapping project of the Muscogee Cemetery. My Grandparents and an Aunt is buried there. I love ❤️ this place so very much but since I live quite a distance away and have gotten older myself, I haven’t been able to preserve this precious place. Thank you to all those who live close and are able for helping to preserve this cemetery. ❤️
I visited the old Muskogee Cemetery today and was angry at the state of this place. Overgrown grass, headstones destroyed and pushed over. One grave seems to have been dug into.. Not to mention the forgotton graves in the woods that have completely grown over again due to lack of care for this place. It is a shame that the graves of these human beings, would be just forgotton to be erased by time and forgotten.Total disrespect for the final resting place of all these people! The county and state should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this! It makes me very sad to see this! I want to help any way i can.
I found this cemetery by accident trying to find fillingim river… it is so scarcely beautiful. The graves have been vandalized and there are tiny unmarked graves for infants… This place needs to be protected at all costs.
My Maternal McDonald Grandparents and one of my aunts are buried there. Grandmother 1934 Grandfather 1952.. Also other relatives buried there.. My father Robert Weekley worked this cemetery for 18 yrs.. It became to much for him to do.. Then the company bought the property and started maintaining it.. My Mother Annie McDonald Weekley was born in Muscogee 1931.. Grandfather worked at the sawmill until it was closed down.. The P.O. closed 1954.. I know so much history about Muscogee.. I was born and raised in Muscogee and only live a few miles away now.
I would like to thank everyone that was involved in this project for the Old Muscogee Cemetery. My fathers family is buried in this cemetery. We live out of state and when he went to visit the cemetery back many years ago it was just a mess. Older people that had familys there moved away and it was hard for them to take care of the cemetery. The company that is now overseeing the cemetery has posted a map of the gravesites and names of as many as they can identify. The cemetery is beautiful and I was able to visit it this spring. Thank you again.
Is it still possible to be buried in the Old Miscogee Cemetery?
Please continue to preserve and try to save as much and as many of those wonderful old cemeteries as possible. My grandfather, grandmother and Aunt are buried in the old Muscogee Cemetery. It has been one of the greatest joys in my life to be able to visit them. It is hard for me to understand how anyone one could deliberately destroy places that are so precious and once destroyed are gone forever. If I lived closer I’d be very involved .
Jacqueline Freisinger, The Older Black Cemetery… This cemetery is on land owned by RMS bought from IP several years ago and is located south of the “McDavid” sawmill that is located north of the cemetery. The entrance to this area is across from the unpaved, Pine Barren Road……
… This is the on that I am speacking of that 16 yrs ago the cut and planted new pines on. I searched for two days and could not Locate it after this???
Before this was done there had been a Forest fire break cut through the middle of the graves. Sad that we would Lose Cemeteries as Generations pass we tend to forget. My Family helped to restore a Historic Cemetery and now over-sees it’s maintenance. (Not an easy task.) If anyone know the exact Location of this one, I would like to help restore it. The Old Black Cemetery @ Pine Barren Road…
I am so excited about this finding the lost part of the old cemetery . Many years ago I got involved with the Pensacola Historical Society and went out to the one round cemetery and we did some cleaning of the grave stone and clearing always overgrowth. I know there was supposed to be more to it out in the woods but because of snakes my daughter and my husband and I never ventured very far out in the woods. I know people had destroyed. Some of the monuments and we found all kinds of trash. Just heart breaking how disrespectful people could be. We moved over to SR County and I haven’t been out to the old cemetery in 14 years maybe. I’m just so happy your cleaning it up and taking care of it. Can’t wait to see how it goes. I heard there was a old black cemetery out in the woods. I know that there was a town called Muscogee at one time and it was a timber or sawmill business. I have some old pix from back then. I guess if you go to the Pensacola Historical Society and look for Old Muscogee you can see info.. So happy! BGP.
I contacted UWF’s archeology department about this cemetery 10 years ago,they said they would get around to it.I have 2 siblings buried there.never knew the name of this cemetery at Quintette rd and Dukes drive though.can anybody help me?
This is an awesome discovery in this rich historical area.there is also a large cemetery on west Quintette rd and dukes dr down the hill going east at 95A.the man that bought it destroyed all the headstones to make way for a cornfield, he buried the headstones on the property,he also built a house there in the graveyard, we can only see two or three visible grave sites,but we as neighbors know its much much bigger!!!we know this was native American territory at one time because of the relics we found like pottery, my father also found arrowheads while plowing his field in the 1930s,he would put them in a pail that was on our Garry(porch)being a local history buff,I would love to volunteer in this project!! I love cottage hill and Quintette and its awesome HISTORY!
I grew up knowing this as “the baby cemetery ” our youth group cleaned up a little bit way back when. And we prayed over the graves. I don’t have relatives there, but I do feel a connection with it. Over the years people party back there, went mudding back there. And dumped their trash. It was a sad situation. A few years back they cleaned up put up an info board where it told who and where they were located, not long after there was bullet holes in the board. It was awful, but always had that feeling graves had been lost in those woods. Glad to see Gulf Power helping the community. Especially where most of the graves are infants from the early 1900s.
I pastored right down the road for 13 years at Harvest Christian Center and went to this site in 2011 or 12. This is an area that an archeological team from a university (does UWF have one?) should come check out. The mills had their own currency and I have read it was more like 1,000 people. Apparently, It also had a company restaurant/cafe to feed the people. There has to be some cool stuff from the 1800s in that whole area not just the cemetery. There are wooden remnants of building foundations and 500-1,000 people surely dropped some pretty neat stuff over the course of decades.
I am so happy to see this being done! I, myself, would love to volunteer to help with this project. I grew up in Cantonment and want to help however I can. Who can we call to find out about helping??
Many people asked where this cemetery is located. River Annex Rd off of Muscogee Rd near the train tracks on the River.
Many thanks to Gulf Power —Good men, Helping with our local history. I would like to add I live on Sunshine Hill Rd. My family has lived on same land for { 7} generationsAll the old ones are gone, But I was told of old Native American–Black Cemetery off North Sunshine Hill Rd. on IP land. I hope anyone who knows the location ,please contact Barrineau Park Historical folks , Molino Historical Folks, or me Burnie Silcox on Sunshine Hill Rd. Most people up here know me or my kin. Mvto (Thank you) God Bless. PS Im on facebook.
I was with a group that surveyed and worked in the main portion way back when. At that time they talked about the missing cemetery. They hoped to locate and restore this section of the cemetery. The fact that it was a black cemetery had nothing to do with it not being surveyed and cleaned up, at least not with the group I was with. The reason they did not work on it was because no one was certain where it was. The entire area, except for the front portion was thicket; heavy underbrush. So glad that it has been located and progress is being made to clear it and hopefully preserve it for future generations.
The cemetery, Pine Barren Cemetery, across from Camp O’ the Pines, near Pine Barren Creek on Hwy. 29 is still in existence, active, and there were burials here before 1826.
The older, Black cemetery, White Lily Baptist Church (l878) and cemetery, above this cemetery is also still in existence, however, during the storms the large pine trees and other growth fell over those graves that were visible. Trees were not planted on this site.
This cemetery is on land owned by RMS bought from IP several years ago and is located south of the “McDavid” sawmill that is located north of the cemetery. The entrance to this area is across from the unpaved, Pine Barren Road, which was a part of the Pine Barren Road years ago that went to Cotton Lake, across the railroad.
The caretaker for this cemetery took shovels of earth from each of the graves
when the church and cemetery were relocated to the White Lily Baptist Church (1918) and cemetery on Barth Road.
Before the storms someone laid flowers on the graves, however, if you visited there
today you are unlikely to locate it.
This is awesome, several years ago, visited a Cemetery off HWY 29 across from the Camp of the Pines with early 1900 graves and Older that were marked, I went back a couple years later and it was Cleared, Plowed under & new pines planted over. I called Champion or IP (Been several years) to get some help but went nowhere, was told Contractors did the work . I have not found anyone to help restore or locate it now… Seams that there is no oversight of Old Cemeteries. That was SO SAD…. Someone could just plow over a grave under any circumstances baffles me (HAD TO HAVE SEEN THEM).. Anyone who know anything of this – I was greatly appreciate helping restore it.
I do believe the Black side is a slave burial ground if its the one I am thinking on Perdido River,
Bring history to light but be truthful in doing so.
Hats off to Gulf Power, well done.
This is so awesome , I am not from this area have lived here about 14 yrs, but thank you to those for your efforts , would love to bring this town back , would love to see it prosper again
I live right down from this cemetery and I am so glad to see someone working on it. I have been told there are more grave sites that the ones on the top of the hill. I am glad you have found them and really appreciate someone realizing the historical value of this area. Thanks again.
Thank you volunteers, it is hard work to keep up cemetery plots. Everyone had a star in their crown. Again, thank you volunteers.
Where is this located exactly?
Where is this cemetery located – off of which road? It is great to hear about the HISTORY of area and it being taken care of…. ♡
Appreciate this article and so thankful to the Gulf Power volunteers and the NW Florida Water Management , Mr Brown and his crew for all this hard work to preserve the Muscogee Cemeterys.
Thank You for this article! No longer a resident there but, I try to stay on top of my hometowns news as much as possible! It is wonderful to see people caring about places like this! Places like this hold more history in them than the corner gas station but people tend to not care. This was really refreshing to see! Very heartwarming!
Where is this cemetery located?
Wow!!!! ….This is Awesome …..The Gods of our past are shinning down on you all Job well done …..preserving our History is vital ,,,and not heard of much in todays society….. Great Work !!!!!! =)
This is nice to hear, but I am wondering why no one works on the back section. They are just as important to history. Can someone like me volunteer to help?
Where is the cementary located at
Thank you. A lot of history comes from reading headstones and then doing research on the people there. And even if the families have moved on it should be preserved.