Lake County's 19th Century Burial Ground
Golden Gem Road, Umatilla, FL 32784
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public cemetery during posted daylight hours. After-hours visits require permission from the City of Umatilla.
Access
Limited Access
Flat to gently sloping grass; sections divided by Golden Gem Road
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1800 · 19th Century Florida Cemetery · City-Owned Burial Ground · Lake County History
Umatilla Cemetery is on Golden Gem Road south of the city of Umatilla in Lake County, Florida. The cemetery is divided by the road: the older section, dating to the 1800s, sits to the west and is bordered on three sides by orange groves; the newer section, on the east side, slopes toward a small lake. The cemetery contains more than 2,000 documented interments.
The burial ground was originally managed by a private cemetery association that became defunct, after which the City of Umatilla assumed management. The City owns five cemeteries total, with Umatilla Cemetery being the principal historical ground; only two cemeteries (Umatilla Cemetery Annex II and Glendale II) currently have available burial space. Records for the oldest plots are incomplete: many of the original purchasers and many of the burials in the older section are not documented in surviving paper records, with information primarily drawn from headstone surveys.
FloridaRoots.net and Find a Grave volunteer projects have documented thousands of the markers and family lineages, providing the most complete current inventory for genealogical research at the site.
Sources
The folklore surrounding Umatilla Cemetery is community-submitted and centers on the older 1800s section of the grounds, which is bounded on three sides by orange groves. Local accounts include sounds described as a woman's voice calling for help, indistinct cries, and a generalized sense of unease around the older markers.
No named witness, named investigation team, or published newspaper coverage emerged in web research to anchor specific paranormal claims. The site is best treated as a historically interesting municipal cemetery with thin paranormal folklore rather than a documented case. The Shadowlands narrative's warning that the spirits are not benevolent is not supported by any specific incident in the public record and should be received with skepticism.
Visitors should treat the cemetery with the respect due any active municipal burial ground. After-hours visits without explicit City permission are prohibited and have prompted local enforcement action.
Visit the city-managed cemetery on Golden Gem Road, with the older section dating to the 1800s on one side of the road and the newer section, sloping toward a lake, on the other. The older section sits among orange groves and contains over 2,000 interments. After-hours access requires permission.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Freeport, FL
Black Creek Cemetery occupies land that has served as a burial ground since the 1800s in Walton County, Florida. Adjacent to the cemetery stood a church constructed in the 19th century, serving the local community until its demolition. The town of Freeport was settled by 1830 and has deep roots in North Florida and early American history. When a new church replaced the original structure, the historic bell tower was disassembled and relocated out of state.
Pensacola, FL
St. Michael's Cemetery is one of the two oldest extant cemeteries in Florida, formally designated by King Charles IV of Spain in 1807 in colonial Pensacola. The eight-acre cemetery contains over 3,000 marked graves and was designated a Florida state park in 1949. It is now operated by the St. Michael's Cemetery Foundation of Pensacola.
Key West, FL
St. Paul's Episcopal Church was founded in 1831 by act of the Key West City Council, with John Fleming's widow donating the land in 1832 on the condition that the property remain her late husband's resting place. The current 1919 building is the fourth structure on the site, with earlier churches destroyed by hurricane (1846), fire (1886), and demolition.