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Sarasota's oldest cemetery, established 1887, holds the graves of Ella Green and her three children — murdered by their husband and father the same year the cemetery opened
851 Central Ave, Sarasota, FL 34236
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Public cemetery; no admission charge.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Flat maintained grounds; some older sections with uneven grave markers
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1887 · Sarasota's first public cemetery, established 1887 · National Register of Historic Places (November 2003) · Burial site of Sarasota's first mayor and founding figures · Site of 1887 Green family murders
Sarasota's first public cemetery was plotted before the town itself was formally incorporated. The original 1886 survey included a parcel designated for burial, and the first recorded interment — Tom Booth — took place in March 1887. Over the following decades the cemetery became the primary resting place for Sarasota's civic and business leaders: first mayor John Hamilton Gillespie, who also introduced golf to Florida; developer Owen Burns, who financed much of early Sarasota's infrastructure; the town's first physician, Dr. Jack Halton; and the Rev. Lewis Colson, one of the first surveyors to arrive in 1884 and a prominent figure in the Black community.
The same year the cemetery opened, it received a burial that residents did not easily forget. Delos Green, a local carpenter, killed his wife Ella and their three children while they slept, then fled. He was shot and killed while resisting arrest. Ella and the three children were buried at Rosemary; Green's body was buried where he fell.
By the early 20th century the cemetery had largely filled, and new burials shifted to other sites. The grounds fell into varying states of maintenance over the decades. In November 2003 — the same month as the 2003 NRHP designation — the site received renewed attention when it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, prompting restoration efforts and the installation of interpretive markers. Today approximately 740 graves are documented on the grounds.
Sources
The haunting accounts at Rosemary Cemetery center on the Green family plot. Ella Green and her three children, murdered by their father Delos Green in 1887, are among the most frequently cited presences. Visitors near their graves have described children's laughter with no visible source, and some report hearing small footsteps — the pitter-patter described in multiple independent accounts — without seeing anyone.
Physical-sensation reports include invisible hands pulling at hair or the hems of clothing, and sudden battery drain on electronic devices. Some visitors describe items they brought with them — small objects, keys — disappearing near the Green graves and reappearing elsewhere on the grounds.
Mediums who have visited the site claim Ella and the children communicate distress connected to their manner of death, though these accounts are not independently verifiable. The ghost of first mayor J.H. Gillespie is also attributed to the grounds, with some tour accounts describing the sound of a phantom golf club swing — a reference to Gillespie's role in introducing golf to Florida.
The cemetery appears on several Sarasota ghost tour itineraries and has been included in local haunted-history writing since at least the early 2000s.
Notable Entities
The 740-grave National Register site includes headstones dating to 1887. Notable burials include Sarasota's first mayor J.H. Gillespie, developer Owen Burns, physician Dr. Jack Halton, and Ella Green and her three children. Historical markers provide context.
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