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n eight-acre green space located in the

heart of historic downtown Pensacola,

St. Michael’s Cemetery was originally

established as an official Catholic

cemetery in 1807, its then 25 acres a sprawling

expanse granted by the Spanish government to

bury those lost. During the course of its active

use, notable individuals were interred within the

grounds, their many contributions to the world and

to the establishment of Pensacola forever marked

and memorialized by headstones and monuments

too insubstantial to fully express their importance.

But nonetheless, those carved stones and statues

bearing names and numbers and immortal words

are a testament to the many who have walked the

streets of Pensacola and left a part of themselves

behind as time marches on and history is made.

Through its many years of use, the cemetery’s

inhabitants greatly enriched the history of Pensacola

through their presence both in life and after, as the

grounds of St. Michael’s are the final resting place

of captains of industry as well those who died from

epidemics of Yellow Fever, victims of steam ship

explosions, and many citizens whose lives were cut

short by the countless hardships faced by people

during its years as an active burial site in a city—

and a country—that was still often struggling to

survive and learning to thrive.

Though the cemetery was once used by the largely

Catholic community, St. Michael’s was open to

the other inhabitants of the city, residents whose

walks of life and religious beliefs created a greatly

diverse tapestry of young and old, rich and poor—

each special in their own way. Approximately 3200

marked graves now dot the enclosed spaces of the

historic site, though subsurface variances strongly

indicate the possible presence of more than 4,000

additional unmarked graves.

story by

Liesel Schmidt

photos provided by

St. Michaels Cemetery

uried

the

ast

ADVENTURE

74-75 Adventure Out - St. Michael's Cemetery.indd 1

11/25/18 11:38 AM