Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainLake County's 19th Century Burial Ground
Golden Gem Road, Umatilla, FL 32784
Research updated May 2026
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.
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