St. Petersburg is advancing a historic local landmark designation for Greenwood Cemetery, a process stakeholders hope can serve as a model for another embattled burial ground.
The fight to save Greenwood Cemetery, established in 1897, began three years ago when Rui Farias, executive director of the St. Petersburg Museum of History, noticed a property lien taped to a wall. Now, thanks to a pro bono attorney and a complex legal breakthrough, the final resting place for many pioneers is poised for permanent protection, he told a city council committee on Thursday.
Farias discovered that Union Trust Bank, “which hasn’t been in banking for about 20 years,” owned the five-acre property abutting Historic Roser Park. He said the last person tied to a former governing corporation died in 2020.
“There really wasn’t anything anybody could do legally – other than we had about a million volunteer hours in there to clean the cemetery – until the new ownership was completed,” Farias said.
An attorney successfully petitioned the state to resurrect the long-neglected cemetery’s governing corporation. The legal maneuver unlocked a Bank of America trust account that hadn’t been touched since 1968.
Farias said the previous owners, who were buried in the cemetery, “were wise enough to start a foundation” to cover maintenance costs. “Nobody was able to touch that money because the corporation had basically lapsed.”
“It’s in the high six figures,” Farias said of the account balance. “There is enough money to take care of this cemetery for a while.”
Preservation efforts unearthed more than just money. The new association discovered a trove of historical records meticulously cataloging the site’s early interments.
Farias said the documents, salvaged from an estate, date back to the 1920s. “We’re going through all that now, all those boxes.”
Restoration work is also underway. A volunteer arborist recently spent three days removing dead trees.
Farias said the new governing association, led by a descendant of city pioneers, is drafting a request for proposal for regular landscaping services. The estimated cost is between $5,000 and $10,000 monthly.
Not everything can be saved. A temporary coffin vault requires demolition due to extensive storm damage.
“It’s a really creepy building, actually, … it’s where they would store the coffins until they could bury them,” Farias said, noting that old tombstones are still on the shelves. “The roof has collapsed, so that will have to come down.”
Derek Kilborn, director of the city’s Urban Planning and Historic Preservation Division, outlined the path to landmark status. Greenwood Cemetery, located at the intersection of 11th Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South, sits just outside of the Historic Roser Park National Register District.
The 129-year-old burial ground easily meets the city’s criteria for special properties due to its deep connection to St. Petersburg’s legacy families and founding era, Kilborn said. Council members also briefly considered amending the existing National Register of Historic Places boundaries.
Kilborn, however, warned that altering federal boundaries would require re-evaluating every parcel in the district, significantly delaying the Greenwood initiative. He recommended the city-initiated route to accelerate the process.
Committee members unanimously agreed. They also supported waiving associated fees, and the initiative will now go before the full city council for approval.
The conversation then turned to Lincoln Cemetery in what is now Gulfport.
“I think this is actually good news for both cemeteries,” said Councilmember Gina Driscoll. “There’s a lot that can be learned from this group.”
During segregation, St. Petersburg relocated the remains of Black pioneers to Gulfport. Established in 1926, Lincoln Cemetery has suffered from decades of deferred maintenance and storm damage.
Rev. Clarence Williams and St. Petersburg-based Cross and Anvil Human Services assumed control of the cemetery in 2023 after resolving an ownership dispute with a Gulfport resident. Officials from both cities began discussing its de-annexation, which the nonprofit must initiate, in late 2025.
The cemetery contains thousands of unmarked graves, Williams told council members in December. Pinellas County Commissioner Rene Flowers and State Sen. Darryl Rouson secured $300,000 in state funding for the embattled burial grounds in June.
Councilmember Corey Givens Jr. credited Kilborn and Farias for establishing a blueprint at Thursday’s meeting. He added that Lincoln Cemetery, the final resting place for some of his relatives, also carries historic significance.
“You have so many trailblazers who are buried out there,” Givens said. “I just don’t want Lincoln to be forgotten in the conversation.”
Updates are scarce. City Administrator Rob Gerdes is “not aware of any further conversations since the mayor met with Pastor Williams.”
“I haven’t been briefed recently, but my recollection is that we were looking for the property owner to take some action with the City of Gulfport,” Gerdes continued. “And I think that’s where it’s still at.”
Municipal boundaries hinder the city’s ability to restore and protect Lincoln Cemetery. Kilborn has proposed a partnership with Boca Ciega High School that would let students earn Bright Futures scholarship volunteer hours through cleanup efforts.
Givens suggested an after-school program organized by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department and an organization that has written children’s books about the burial grounds. For now, the focus remains on the vision for Greenwood Cemetery, which Farias hopes will function as a historical park.
“Now we have a foundation, so that way we don’t have to try to reinvent the wheel,” Givens said.
