HOPS
looking back
Evergreen: Ocala’s Oldest Public Cemetery BY CARLTON REESE WITH THE HISTORIC OCALA PRESERVATION SOCIETY
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s Ocala’s oldest public cemetery, Evergreen Cemetery located on NW 8th Street, is the solemn place one would expect while also holding a fair amount of history. In 1850, Gadsen T. Thigpin was the first person to be buried at Evergreen and as the years followed many prominent figures and those who were part of some historic times would be interred there. Early descriptions of the cemetery paint a picture of shade trees and the fragrance of oleander and jasmine, but at the turn of the 20th century those descriptions became less flattering. At that time cows, goats and hogs ran freely through the grounds, knocking down markers and fences. Today, there have been yeoman efforts at maintaining the site, but care for headstones generally falls upon family members, most who are no longer around. While Thigpin was not an Ocalan and whose main significance to the area is that he was simply the first person buried at Evergreen, the site is full important figures and each with a story to tell. The most prominent person buried at Evergreen is most certainly Robert Bullock who was a brigadier general in the Confed-
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erate army after starting out as captain of the 7th Florida Regiment of the Civil War. He saw action in the Battle of Chickamauga, the Atlanta Campaign and the Franklin-Nashville Campaign. After the war, Bullock began a law practice in Marion County and would serve in the U.S. congress from 1889-1893. At Evergreen, one will notice many of the former 7th Florida Regiment soldiers buried near their general, graves adorned with USA and CSA flags. A stroll through Evergreen takes one to the final resting place of several city namesakes including John Dunn, who the city of Dunnellon is named after. Dunn was an early investor in phosphate when it was discovered there in 1889 and the town would be incorporated in 1891, just two years before his death.
Benjamin Waldo also rests in Evergreen. He was a doctor originally from South Carolina before relocating to Marion County in 1847 and settling in at Pine Hill Plantation. Waldo’s friend and business partner David Yulee, who was chief stockbroker of the Florida railroad, named the completed line’s station near Gainesville after Waldo. One of the largest family sites at Evergreen is the Harris plot. Ebenezer Harris, who owned the Ocala House Hotel where the new Hilton Garden Inn sits, holds the prominent position in this space and is surrounded by family members. He is responsible for founding the town of Citra. Nearly 500 souls are buried at Evergreen, among them Ocala’s first mayor, numerous soldiers from the Civil War, World War I and World War II as well as some of Ocala’s early African-American residents, some of whom were slaves. Old cemeteries can often be forgotten and Evergreen has managed to keep its quiet setting despite the growth around it. Some parts disheveled and unkempt and other parts pristine and dignified, Evergreen is nonetheless a rich piece of history as a final resting place for some significant figures.
