Evergreen Cemetery

Evergreen Cemetery stands as Gainesville's oldest and most historically significant burial ground, tracing its origins to February 1856 when cotton merchant James Tilatha Thomas buried his 10-day-old infant daughter beneath a cedar tree on his sprawling acreage. Eight months later, Thomas laid his wife Elizabeth to rest in the same grave—a double burial marked by a rare headstone carved by Charleston stonemason W.A. White that remains visible today.

The cemetery evolved from a single reserved acre into a 35-acre holding through the original Evergreen Cemetery Association, formed prior to 1888. After decades of private stewardship by devoted Gainesville families—notably "Miss Mamie" Warner, who ran the grounds with caretaker Ed Pons as if they were her own—the Association sold the property to the City of Gainesville for $1.00 on May 11, 1944. The city has operated it continuously since, weathering a 1994 privatization threat that instead spawned the current 501(c)(3) support organization.

Today Evergreen encompasses 53+ acres with approximately 4,000 burial spaces still available for purchase. The grounds serve dual purposes: active cemetery and heritage tourism destination, with 38 documented stops on the city's free Historic Gainesville Cell Phone Tour.