Jacksonville's 1880 NRHP-listed cemetery on 167 acres, associated with three named apparitions documented by ghost researcher Lee Holloway in 1999.
4535 North Main Street, Jacksonville, FL 32206
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public access during posted hours.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Operating 167-acre cemetery with paved roads and grassy plots; uneven terrain in older sections.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1880 · Oldest fully-operating cemetery in Jacksonville · NRHP-listed April 8, 2011 · Over 80,000 burials across 167 acres · Significant collection of Gilded Age funerary art
Evergreen Cemetery was established in 1880 on 167 acres along North Main Street in Jacksonville and is the oldest fully-operating cemetery in the city. Founded during the late-Victorian rural-cemetery movement that brought park-like landscaped burial grounds to American cities, Evergreen contains more than 80,000 burials and a notable concentration of Gilded Age funerary art, including ornate mausoleums and figurative monuments.
The cemetery's older eastern section preserves the most elaborate nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century markers, including the Dodd family mausoleum and the elaborate sculpted angel that marks the grave of Belle Hightower (died December 12, 1932, age 34) — known locally as the 'Ugly Angel' because of its weather-eroded face. Evergreen has been continuously operated since opening and remains active for new burials and as a funeral home / crematory.
The Evergreen Cemetery Historic District was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on April 8, 2011, recognizing the property's significance to Jacksonville's social, civic, and architectural history.
Sources
According to The Jaxson and reporting carried by Jacksonville Today, the stories of Evergreen Cemetery's three resident ghosts appear to all derive from a single original source: an article by Jacksonville ghost researcher Lee Holloway titled 'Encounters at Evergreen Cemetery,' published in the October 1999 issue of the Ghost Trackers Newsletter. Holloway's piece is the earliest documented account of the cemetery's three named apparitions, and subsequent local features have largely retold her cases.
The 'Lady in Violet' is described as a woman in an old-fashioned violet dress and black plumed hat reported near the entrance to the older eastern section. The 'Ugly Angel' is the elaborate sculpted angel marking the grave of Belle Hightower (died December 12, 1932, age 34); a witness recounted in The Jaxson said that in the early 1960s she and her siblings saw the apparition of a woman 'clothed in a light-colored dress suit' at Hightower's grave, an encounter that brought comfort rather than fear, and that she saw the figure again in the 1990s after her brother's death. The third figure, Thaddeus, is described as a blond apparition appearing near the Dodd family mausoleum.
Reports remain anecdotal and the three named apparitions are best understood as a documented twentieth-century folkloric tradition originating with Holloway's 1999 article. The Jaxson notes the consistency of subsequent retellings flows from this common source rather than from independent corroboration.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Explore the older eastern section, find the elaborate 'Ugly Angel' headstone marking Belle Hightower's grave, and visit the Dodd family mausoleum during daylight hours. This is an active 167-acre operating cemetery — please be respectful of mourners and burials.
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