Memorial Park Cemetery

Ground-penetrating radar has detected what appear to be more than 120 coffins under an apartment complex in Tampa, the remains of the lost cemetery revealed by the Tampa Bay Times.The 2½-acre, segregation-era burial ground, believed to be the city’s first for African-Americans, was established in 1901 along the 3700 block of Florida Ave. and extended back around 400 feet.It disappeared nearly a century ago when the land was parceled off for white developments.No one tried to find it until now.The radar confirmed that Zion is still there, parts of it at least, under ground that today is home to the back of the Robles Park Village public housing complex owned by the Tampa Bay Housing Authority.People who live there began learning the news Friday.Clark Simmons, vice president of the tenant council, was brought to tears.“Those people are still there,” Simmons said. “Jesus Christ.”RELATED STORY: His church has ties to Zion Cemetery. He forgives those who ignored the bodies and developed it.Archaeologist Eric Prendergast described the find: “Reflections of rectangular objects that are the size and shape of coffins between four and six feet in depth.”Prendergast is principal project investigator for private archaeological assessment company Cardno, hired by the Housing Authority to investigate whether occupied graves remain on its land.“The reflections are arranged in rows and oriented east-west within boundaries of a former cemetery," Prendergast added.Asked if the shapes could show something other than caskets, Paul Jones, project manager for Cardno, replied, “That would be too big of a coincidence.”The Times published a special report about the forgotten cemetery in June, prompting the Housing Authority to hire the archaeologists.During a nine-month search, the Times pieced together the cemetery’s lost history but found no evidence of a mass reburial.ORIGINAL STORY: Nearly 400 people buried in Tampa are missing. What happened to Zion Cemetery?COMPLETE COVERAGE: Catch up on all the news about Zion Cemetery from the Tampa Bay Times ...

This is another dignified step in reclaiming the history of Tampa’s black pioneers, and it sets the right example of government having its priorities straight.Five of the 67 buildings in the Robles Park Village apartments stand on land once occupied by Zion Cemetery, an early 20th century African-American burial ground. As the Tampa Bay Times’ Paul Guzzo first reported in June, as many as 800 people may have been buried there - but no one knows whether they were moved before a storefront, warehouses and the apartments were built there over the years. On Friday, the archaeological consultant hired by the authority announced the discovery of what they believe to be 126 caskets at the site.The housing authority, which owns the apartments, announced at a tenants meeting Aug. 22 that the relocation would begin in weeks for the 96 people who live in apartments on the cemetery land. The authority had said earlier in the month that the discovery of even one casket would trigger a relocation. But after talks with the Robles Park Tenant Council and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the agency decided not to wait. “It was holy ground,” said Leroy Moore, the authority’s chief operating officer. “This shouldn’t have happened,” authority president Jerome Ryans told the tenants. “It is regrettable. But now we have to deal with it."The Tampa Bay Times revealed the existence of the long-forgotten cemetery in a special report June 23, which prompted the authority to commission a search of its property. The 2½ acres once occupied by the cemetery is split nearly evenly between Robles Park Village and restaurateur Richard Gonzmart, whose property along N. Florida Ave. north of downtown contains a warehouse and a vacant storefront.Tenants cheered the announcement, which was the right decision morally and for the sake of history. The Times investigation revealed that Zion Cemetery, established in 1901, had room for some 800 burial plots plus a potters field for people who were indigent or unidentified. The Times discovered 382 de...

Through his research as president of the Glendale Arizona Historical Society, he has learned their stories, their families' stories, and their hopes and dreams for this community. "Our whole history of the city is buried here, since 1895," Short said, looking out over the graves at the cemetery, on the southwest corner of 61st and Northern Avenues. A few dozen feet in front of him, there's a plaque dedicating the land to the city in 1962. "By the settlers of this community," it reads, "the dedication of this memorial and the acceptance by the city of Glendale assures future generations the perpetual care of this hallowed ground." Soon, the perpetual care of this historical cemetery may be in someone else's hands. In August, the Glendale City Council will vote whether to approve the sale of the city-owned cemetery to a private company. The vote is set to take place at the council meeting on Aug. 13 or Aug. 27. Councilman Jamie Aldama is hosting a community meeting on the topic at 6...