Miami City Cemetery


1800 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, Florida 33132

History of the Miami City Cemetery

PRISM MIAMI CITY CEMETERY FLORIDAMiami’s oldest official cemetery, with some of the oldest marked grave sites in South Florida, sits on 10-acres of land and is contains the remains of approximately 9,000 people.

In 1897 Mrs. Mary Brickell sold a 10-acre (4.0 ha) "rocky" piece of land to the City of Miami for $750 on June 1897 which became the municipal cemetery. At that time it was located one half mile north of the city limits on a narrow wagon track county road created in 1897, a year after the City of Miami was incorporated by 100 men. African-Americans and black Bahamians made up one-third of the City's incorporators. The first burial, not recorded, was of an elderly black man on July 14, 1897. The first recorded burial of a white man was H. Graham Branscomb, a 24-year-old Englishman on July 20, 1897 from consumption. From its inception, the historic cemetery was subdivided with whites on the east end and the blacks population on the west end. PRISM MIAMI CITY CEMETERY FLORIDABlacks provided the primary labor force for building of Miami but were confined by clauses in land deeds to the north west section of Miami now known as Overtown.

In 1915, the Beth David congregation began a Jewish section. Two other prominent sections are the circles: the first to Julia Tuttle, the "Mother of Miami" buried in 1898; the second, a memorial to the Confederate Dead erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. 66 Confederate and 27 Union veterans are buried here. Other sections include a Catholic section, American Legion, Spanish American War, and two military sections along the north and south fence lines. Among the 9,000 burials are pioneer families such as the Burdines, Peacocks and Dr. James Jackson. This site has the only known five oolitic (limestone) gravestone worldwide. These and the unique tropical plants make this a tropical oasis.

PRISM MIAMI CITY CEMETERY FLORIDAThe Miami city cemetery is one of the few cemeteries where the owners of the plot actually hold a deed to the land where the plot is situated... Approximately 1,000 open plots remain within the City Cemetery but to be buried there the criteria is strict. One must be either the deed holder or able to prove familial relationship to the owner. Friends of the family are not allowed. 

Currently between 10 and 20 burials occur every year at the City Cemetery.
The City of Miami Cemetery is the oldest cemetery and is the first and only municipal cemetery in Miami-Dade County. The cemetery is the resting place for members of many important pioneer families in the City of Miami. Some of these pioneers are known to us by their history and their gravesites. As a result, the headstone and the classical mausoleums embellish the only site associated with many of these individuals. On January 4, 1989, the cemetery was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Notable burials include:

  • Julia Tuttle (1848–1898): The "Mother of Miami."
  • William M. Burdine: The founder of the Burdines department stores
  • John Sewell (1867–1938): 3rd Mayor of the City of Miami
  • Dr. James Jackson: The first resident physician of Miami
  • Samuel Jones: City of Miami incorporator
  • Deputy Sherriff Murrettus "Rhett" McGregor (1868–1895): 1st police officer killed in the line of duty in Dade County

Paranormal Investigation: Miami City Cemetery (January 20, 2014)

PRISM conducted our first investigation of the notoriously haunted City of Miami Cemetery on January 20, 2013 and recorded a P-SB7 spirit box ITC session around several of the gravesites. The visit yielded some very interesting results and can be seen in the video below. An excellent ITC example occurs at 2:45 with a voice repeating the name of Robert Emmet twice. This may not be the type of evidence that will prove the existence of ghosts, but we do believe this to be one more valid way of trying to communicate with the dead.



 

History: Deputy Constable John Edward Dickson (1892-1933)

PRISM Paranormal Research with Ronnie Hurwitz, a sexton at the Miami City Cemetery, in downtown Miami, Florida on February 27, 2021.

The checkered history of Deputy Constable John Edward Dickson (1892-1933), buried at the Mami City Cemetery. 

History: Volunteer Firefighter Oliver Johnson (1889-1904)

PRISM Paranormal Research with Ronnie Hurwitz, a sexton at the Miami City Cemetery, in downtown Miami, Florida on February 27, 2021.

The City of Miami held a memorial service in honor of volunteer firefighter Oliver Johnson, who was only 15 years of age, saving his family from their burning home in 1904. His life and legacy lives on at Miami City Cemetery.

History: Deputy Sherriff Murrettus "Rhett" McGregor (1868-1895)


PRISM Paranormal Research with Ronnie Hurwitz, a sexton at the Miami City Cemetery, in downtown Miami, Florida on February 27, 2021. 

A posse was trying to capture Sam S. Lewis, a bar owner in Lemon City, who was wanted for the double murder of two bar patrons on the 27th of July 1895. Murrettus "Rhett" McGregor was a Deputy Sherriff in that posse when he was shot on the 9th of August 1895, after wounding Sam  Lewis. Rhett died three days later. He was the first police officer killed in the line of duty in Dade County. His name is on the police memorial in Washington DC, and a conference room at police headquarters in Miami is named after him.

History: Carrie Barrett Miller (1865-1926)

PRISM Paranormal Research with Ronnie Hurwitz, a sexton at the Miami City Cemetery, in downtown Miami, Florida on February 27, 2021.

The story of how Carrie B. Miller's fascination with Pompeii led her to have her body molded into a solid block of concrete at the Miami City Cemetery.

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