Home to centuries-old trees, and the resting place for thousands, Gainesville’s historic Evergreen Cemetery entered a new era Sunday afternoon, celebrating major renovations with expanded services and technological upgrades.
About 12 years ago, Kathy McGlone was riding along the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail when she happened upon the cemetery during an event.
“ I had an aunt and uncle who lived next to a cemetery when I was a kid,” McGlone said. “ We used to jump the fence and go in and visit. So I have loved cemeteries since I was a kid.”
Today, she serves as the president of the board for the Evergreen Cemetery Association of Gainesville.
McGlone and the board are leading efforts to revitalize the cemetery, including transforming it into an arboretum, launching a new grave locator app, offering natural burials, creating a pet cemetery, and constructing a columbarium.
“ The history of Gainesville is here,” McGlone said.
Gainesville’s only municipal cemetery spans 56 acres and is the final resting place for more than 14,000 individuals, including Gatorade creator Dr. James Robert Cade and Florida Senator William Augustine Shands.
However, families visiting their loved ones often found it difficult to locate their graves among the thousands of others.
Karen Pruss, cemetery coordinator, frequently received calls on Sundays from visitors asking for help. With the new grave locator app, visitors can easily find their loved ones' resting spot.
“This is just like Google Maps for the cemetery,” Pruss said.
The app functions as a GPS, guiding users to graves with arrows and providing pictures, as well as a 360-degree view, Pruss said.
In addition to helping families find graves, the app also highlights the cemetery’s trees and their locations, offering visitors the opportunity to explore the space as an arboretum.
“An arboretum is essentially an outdoor museum of trees,” said Sam Schatz, urban forestry program coordinator for the city.
The creation of the arboretum has been a five-year project, aimed at planting more trees to serve as both an ecological and educational resource for the community.
The new trees will enhance the landscape, provide a learning opportunity for visitors, and support local wildlife, Schatz said.
The cemetery has a long history with trees.
According to Pruss in 1920, 200 oak, magnolia, and cedar trees were planted in honor of the men who served during World War I.
This effort came two decades after three families donated land for its establishment.
The cemetery’s story began with a family tragedy in 1856, when James Tilatha Thomas, its founder, buried his 10-day-old daughter and wife on the land that would eventually become Evergreen Cemetery.
His grandson, Thomas Holland Fay, who is also buried there, played a key role in preserving the cemetery. In 1994, he and Katherine Macdonald became the first members of the advisory committee board dedicated to protecting the site.
“I got involved when the city was going to sell the cemetery,” Macdonald said. “We formed an advisory committee and then a nonprofit corporation.”
Macdonald, 81, a graduate of the University of Florida College of Law, has been instrumental in the cemetery’s conservation efforts, including serving as president of the board, providing legal advice, and volunteering.
At the 169th anniversary celebration, Macdonald was honored by Mayor Harvey Ward, who proclaimed Feb. 23 “Katherine Macdonald Day” in recognition of her volunteer work and dedication to preserving the cemetery’s history.
“ My hands are still shaking. I did not know that was going to happen,” Macdonald said after receiving the proclamation.
She had once struggled to find a friend's mother’s grave and praised technological improvements like the grave locator app, reflecting on how far the cemetery has come.
As the cemetery continues to evolve, it stands not only as a place of rest but as a tribute to the people and history of Gainesville.