Palmetto celebrates improvements to historic Yellow Fever Cemetery

While the old chain link fencing that once surrounded an important piece of Palmetto’s history wasn’t as old as the graves at the Yellow Fever Cemetery, it wasn’t the most flattering aspect of the property located at the corner of Fifth Street West and 14th Avenue West.

That fencing is gone now and the cemetery is now surrounded with a wrought iron style fence. Also, new LED lighting has been added within the cemetery and at its entrance, and an educational kiosk explaining the cemetery’s historic ties to the community is now a focal point.

“We’re just thankful to be able to preserve some of our history here in Palmetto,” said Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant. “We cherish that. We cherish the people that came before us and did so much for the community in laying out the community.”

The cemetery was opened prior to the late 1880s outbreak of yellow fever and was used until 1910, the year Palmetto founder Samuel Sparks Lamb, who donated the land, died. There are 44 known graves in the cemetery and about 10 of Palmetto’s early settlers buried there are tied to the 1888 yellow fever outbreak.

Community lore says there are many more graves not yet found. Bryant said her family has always known about a descendant who died at the age of 2 who is in the cemetery, but her whereabouts are unknown.

“It’s always been a lifelong hope to eventually find her, and it will be a special day to put a marker on her resting place,” Bryant said.

Efforts have been made in the past to determine if there are other unmarked graves, but the results have been inconclusive. The city hopes to one day spearhead an effort to try again.

Assistant City Clerk Amber LaRowe led the effort to find grant funding through the Florida Department for Historic Preservation, which funded $18,000 of the cemetery improvements. In all, including the grand funds, the city has invested about $37,000 into the project.

Bryant praised LaRowe for her efforts, saying, “Amber rose above and beyond in trying to get some funding for us to do this project,” she said, but both quickly credited several city employees who jumped in to make it happen.

“We really wanted to make a point today that it takes a team to do anything,” Bryant said.

The fencing has been up for a few days now and the new lighting will come online soon. In the meantime, Bryant said the community’s response has been overwhelmingly positive.

“It was really exciting hearing from the community once the first component of the fence was going up,” she said. “Everywhere I went, I got comments, phone calls and emails, so you can tell this is something the community really appreciates.”

This story was originally published April 28, 2017 at 4:19 PM with the headline "Palmetto celebrates improvements to historic Yellow Fever Cemetery."